Hi, When the famous physicist and astronomer Galileo first championed the idea
That the Earth revolved around the sun back in the 1500’s
He was called a raging lunatic and convicted of heresy by the Church
He was then sentenced to life imprisonment
And died under house arrest around 9 years later
But if a 10 year old tells his science teacher that same fact today
Nobody would even bats an eyelash
So what’s changed? Lots of things
The world has evolved, New technologies have been developed
That help us more accurately understand astronomy for example
So poor old Galileo was not insane
He was simply before his time
Luckily, scientists today have more advanced tools and gadgets
That can help them avoid meeting the same fate as Galileo
But sometimes, their claims still make us do a double take when we first hear about them
Especially if we don’t have a background in science and physics
Let’s look at an example shall we?
In their published works, two different scientists, Tom Garrison and Michael Allaby
Both compare mountains to ships
Yes, you heard me right Mountains, those tall massive structures that protrude out of the Earth
In such a stately solid way and ships, sailing in the open water
Sounds like an odd coupling, but the physical law of buoyancy
Developed by the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes would say otherwise
This is because the driving force behind both ships and mountains is one and the same
And it’s something called buoyancy
Now the words buoyant or floating don’t usually pop into our heads when we think of mountains
But guess what happens to a mountain when a thick sheet of ice accumulates on its surface?
The rock sinks into the mantle under its weight, just as a ship sinks deeper into the water
when it is loaded with cargo
And what happens to the mountain when it erodes or after the removal of the thick sheet of ice from its surface?
In much the same way as a ship rises again when the cargo is removed from it
The Earth’s crust will rise again in response to the reduced load on the mountain
We know all this today from the research conducted by scientists such as Garrison and Allaby
In 2013 and 2014
But flashback 14 centuries ago to when the Quran was revealed
And you will find that it too makes the same analogy in Chapter 42, verse 32
When it says “And among His Signs are the ships in the sea like mountains.”
How in the world could a book revealed that long ago possibly contain such accurate scientific analogies
In the glaring absence of the necessary scientific tools and proofs at that time?
Yet, another example of modern science mirroring the Quran relates to the concept of inertia
In 2011, in the 39th issue of the Thresholds Journal entitled “Inertia”
One of the articles, written by Dr. Caroline O. Fowler, who has a Ph.D in the Department of Art and Architecture
From Princeton University, is entitled Standing Mountains Move Like Clouds
And you thought the pairing of mountains and ships was bizarre!?
In this article, Dr. Fowler offers her reflections on inertia using the artwork of a famous painter
Called Abraham Bloemaert
She begins by describing the concept of Inertia, as defined by Sir Isaac Newton’s first law of motion
Namely that a body will persist through force in a state of either rest or motion
Until moved by another body
She then goes on to shower her praises on the painter for his ability to express this rather
Abstract concept of inertia with only the stroke of his paintbrush in a single picture
In her conclusion, Dr. Fowler further draws attention to the fact that Bloemaert moved towards an understanding of movement
Which is not about setting things into motion through a violent force
But instead suggests the notion that the world may already be in movement
And like the mountains that move like clouds, movement and rest are two different
But ontologically equal states
It is impressive when art is able to depict scientific notions in a straightforward way
But long before Bloemart, Newton or Galileo himself
It was the Quran that presented the understanding of force and movement as a relational concept
In Chapter 27, verse 88 of the Quran
It reads: “And you will see the mountains and think them solid, but they move like clouds“
It is God’s technique which has established everything perfectly
Centuries ago, God told us that He created the world following the laws of inertia
It is science that is just now catching up
So who says science and religion have to be at odds
In the Quran, science and religion are twin sisters
And I don’t mean the type of twins that keep saying they’re identical
When everyone really knows they are fraternal.
The Quran contains many passages that were not understood by scientists
Let alone regular people, until recently, and some that science still has not fully deciphered
But this should come as no surprise. In fact the Quran itself tells us that this will happen
When it says “And these similes we put forward for mankind
But none will understand them except those who have knowledge.”
Let’s look at that word a little closer now simile
It’s very fitting that the Quran should use that word seeing
As how the book itself often uses similes and analogies to help explain things that might otherwise seem abstract
Or unrelated to us
But what’s even more astonishing then that is that modern scientists have used some of the exact same analogies
That were first written in the Quran over 1400 years ago!
Of course, until scientists studied any of this, no one thought to relate mountains and ships or mountains and clouds
In this unusual way. And even now, the analogy of mountains being like ships in the sea
And like moving clouds is one that will most likely be lost on many people
Try it for yourself if you like. Try telling a police officer that mountains move like clouds
And watch what his reaction will be. But be careful, because if you persist in saying it
He might just consider you drunk and arrest you. What can I say?
Sometimes the truth hurts I think Galileo would agree with that, don’t you?