TO MAKE THE NIGHT OVERLAP THE DAY
5-He created the heavens and the earth truthfully. He rolls the night over the day, and rolls the day over the night…
39-The Throngs, 5
The Arabic word for “roll” is yukevviru. The word is used to depict the act of wrapping a turban around someone’s head. This word was also used in the sense of overlapping of the night and day and vice versa. The reason for the day’s turning into night and the night’s turning into day is due to the spheroid form of the earth. In this verse also we observe implied the sphericity of the world.
VIEW OF THE WORLD FROM THE SPACE ABOVE
During the Prophet’s lifetime it was impossible to determine scientifically the correct view. The scientific demonstration of the statements of the Quran was possible after the lapse of a millennium. Why were these scientific explanations in the Quran beyond the comprehension of the Prophet’s contemporaries which would contradict the hypotheses prevalent at the time likely to cause harm to their messenger, let alone being of any benefit to him? We see that the Quran’s objective is to tell the truth at all cost without any concern for the harm or benefit that its statements would generate. The fact that these phenomena could be explained thanks to the advance of science one thousand years after, testifies the universal address of the Quran and its supratemporal character; it addresses not only to its time, but also to the entire humanity till the end of the world.
When the astronomers went to the space, they bore witness to this statement of the Quran and took photographs. The face of the world facing the sun was day, while the other side was night. The rotation of the world around its own axis made the night and day alternate, and in some parts the transition from day to night took place simultaneously.
The fact that the truth of these statements was destined to be understood in the light shed by scientific discoveries made one thousand years after proves that what was unseen (that which could not be perceived by our organs of sense) had become manifest to the organs of the senses.
The phenomena related to the sphericity of the world and the succession of days and nights are the sine qua non conditions of our life on earth. Had our world not been of a spherical shape, had night and day not succeeded to each other thanks to its rotation, the life on the face of the earth exposed to heat would be extinct and in the portion left in the shade vegetation life would not thrive. God’s omniscience, omnipotence and art His perfect design of everything and the miraculous character of the Book are better understood as we think on them.
POLAR REGIONS DEPRESSED DUE TO ROTATION
41-Do they not see that We are advancing the Earth and and reducing it from its outlying boarders? And God judges, there is none to reverse His judgment. He is swift at reckoning.
13-The Thunder, 41
A like statement is observed in the Sura The Prophets, 44th verse that mentions the reduction of outlying borders. We witness that many commentators failed to grasp the meaning of these verses. For instance, Ikrima (d. 733 after hegira) says that if a material loss had occurred at the extremities of the earth, the earth would become a place where man could not live any more. In brief, according to Ikrima, the explicit meaning of the verse points to a curtailment at the extremities of the earth, but, as he thinks that such a thing is not possible, he claims that the meaning of this verse must be interpreted in a different way. Certain commentators said that the verse in question predicted that Muslims were going to conquer and occupy the lands of the infidel. It is a fact that in the verse there is no mention about the Muslims’ conquest of lands of the infidel. In this verse, there is no mention of Mecca, of the Arabian Peninsula or of any particular spot of the earth, but of the world entire.
We should not wonder therefore that this statement was not understood for centuries. This fact came to light only in the last century. One should not forget also that the sphericity of our world came to be acknowledged by the general public only recently. The fact that the depression at the poles was the result of the rotation of the earth was only a recent discovery. In the verse, the verb ‘to reduce’ is used in the present continuous form. Had the verb be used in the simple past tense, we would be justified to understand that the said depression dated from its original state. The following two points tally with the findings related to the creation:
1) There has been a reduction at the extremities of the world while the poles are depressed, the equator forms a bulge.
2) The world in its original state was different from its actual state. A reduction did occur at the extremities as time went by. (This took place due to the earth’s rotation around its axis.) This scientific fact tallies with the statement of the Quran.
The public contemporary with the Prophet were deprived of the scientific background to have access to the meaning of this revelation. Even today, ask anyone whose field of interest does not lie in physics, if an object rotating around its axis will be subjected to a reduction at the extremities, you will see that he will be at a loss to give you a proper answer. The scientific fact is, however evident for those versed in physics or cosmology. This reduction at the poles is due to the centrifugal force generated by the earth’s rotation and the physical phenomena subsequent to it. The rotation of the earth also suggested to have been the cause of a loss of matter (although insignificant). One of the meanings of the verse can be considered to be the essential meaning while it may have other connotations.
The verses of the Quran related to the formation of the space and the earth have been more accessible in the 21st century. The fact that the miraculous revelations of the Quran have come to be understood only recently may have had the objective to confront the attacks on religion becoming more and more intense from day to day. At present, the secrets of the space and the world are better understood, revealing to the contemporary public God’s design and the miraculous structure of the Quran. We must be thankful for having understood the conformity of the structure of the universe with the Quran’s revelations.
9-Say,”Are those who know and those who know not equal? Only men of understanding mind.
39-The Throngs,9
FECUNDATING WINDS
22- And we send the fecundating winds...
15-Al Hijr,22
Research conducted on physical phenomena and plants demonstrated the importance of the fecundating property of winds. Winds play a role in the reproduction of plants by transportation of small reproductive bodies produced in pollen sacs of the seed plants. The winds have also the character of fecundating the rain clouds. Another sine qua non for life on earth.
Gaseous suspension of ultramicroscopic particles of a liquid called aerosol generated by foaming in seas and other waters get mixed with the dust winds swept from lands before rising to the upper layers of the atmosphere. These particles combine with water vapor that condenses around these particles. Had it not been for these particles, one hundred per cent water vapor could not form the cloud. Formation of clouds is the consequence of the winds’ formation of the water vapor in suspension by the fecundating particles they carry. Had the winds failed to perform this duty there would not have been any rain clouds. As there would be no rain, life would not thrive upon the earth. However, winds have other their function as well. Clouds charged with positive and negative electricity weighing tons, in friction with the air, are swept by winds. Without winds there would be no clouds; even though we assume that they did form, they would fall then down upon the seas and waters over which they would condense, and human beings, plants and the animal kingdom would be deprived of it.
So the clouds are formed thanks to winds, and thanks to winds that rains fall over the land. Life could only thrive upon the earth thanks to rain. We are witnessing again the perfect design of our Creator.
WINDS’ WONDERFUL SYSTEM
The Quran stresses the great role of the wind, a sine qua non of our lives; another example of the munificence of our Creator. Indeed, the rain has affected, among others by the rotation of the earth, in the topography, in the low and high pressure zones, etc. If our world had not an inclination of 23.5 degrees, the cooling and the effect of the sun on the North and South poles would not be subject to daily change. The difference of temperature between the equator and the poles is reduced, the consequence being moderately blowing winds. If the topography of the world had been different, the winds blowing from the poles to the equator and from the equator to the poles might turn into ravaging storms.
Moreover, due to the difference of the atmosphere span over the poles and the equator, the movement and dynamic interplay of the principal winds over the earth depends on the existence of continuous difference in pressure as established through the ceaseless interaction of meteorological ‘highs’ and ‘lows’. Thanks to this, winds can blow in different directions. Mountains, planes and plateaus are so designed as to allow the winds penetrate every nook and corner, creating warm and cold front systems. The wind, the rain, the mountain, the rotation of the earth and the heat are interconnected. Whoever created one of these elements is also the author of the rest. This interconnection cannot be refuted. This interrelatedness is another evidence of the unicity of the Creator. All these subtleties, perfections and details are meant to reflect His power, artistry, wisdom and unlimited power.
When a breeze blows refreshing the sultry atmosphere we are breathing, let us remember His munificence, as we take delight at having been caressed by it. The wind is mathematics, art, power and science all at the same time. All these phenomena bespeak a perfect design behind them and that we are not forlorn abandoned figures. The wind, regardless whether it is a gentle breeze, a brisk northern wind or a sultry south wind, it is still the one designed by our Creator, governed by physical laws without which man cannot survive.
5-… and the manipulation of the winds are signs for those who understand.
45-The Kneeling ,5
