The purpose of this rebuttal was to test the hypothesis that the Qur'an contains statements that are scientifically true. The authors of this site began with a dogmatic view that the Qur'an was, beyond question, the truth and then practiced "selective thinking" - selecting favorable evidence, while ignoring unfavorable evidence to support their hypothesis.
The authors also attempted to appeal to authority by parading several scientists who appeared to support their viewpoint. Obviously, the authors did not mention any experts who disagreed with their hypothesis! I have been involved, in one way or another, with academia for the past twenty years. It is not difficult to find an expert who supports any position - no matter how absurd. In the end, the truth or falsity, reasonableness or unreasonableness, of a belief must stand independently of those who accept or reject the belief. It is also interesting to note that few of the experts cited on this site have expressed their beliefs, concerning the Qur'an, in writing. Even Professor Moore has two different editions of his texts! The "Islamic" edition is nearly impossible to find in the west. If these experts are convinced of the scientific validity of the Qur'an why do they not put their professional reputations on the line to prove their point?
The authors of this site took great pains to extrapolate the text of the Qur'an to fit modern science. There are four problems with the evidence presented to us. The Qur'an's science:
1. Describes something that any human, of normal intelligence, can observe.
2. Was similar to the prevailing scientific opinions of the era
3. Many of these alleged scientific statements are contradicted by other passages from the Qur'an.
4. Was, more often than not, completely wrong.
Chapter 2 - 7 are the most important for the author's hypothesis. The "embryology" of the Qur'an is the same as the beliefs of the Greek Physician Galen (150 AD). These beliefs are also scientifically wrong. Chapter 7 also mentions, but does not cite, a Hadith that I cannot find. Some chapters, such as chapter 8 (burns and pain) and chapter 14 (darkness of the deep sea) contains information that can be easily observed and were common knowledge. Other chapters (such as chapter 17) implies animism when it claims that the "smoke" answered God! Chapter 18 contains the absurdity that iron did not originate in the earth and chapter 18 puts the icing on the cake by claiming that we are entering another ice age, instead of the observed trend of global warming!
After testing our research hypothesis, I conclude that the Qur'an passages given to us in this site DO NOT support the claim that the Qur'an contains accurate scientific information.
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