Recently, I posted a video showing that the author of the Quran couldn’t do third-grade math.
A Muslim in the comments section responded by trying to convince me that the Quran contains
miraculous scientific knowledge—like I’ve never heard that one before.
Unfortunately for our Muslim friends, this argument could never in a million years convince
me that Islam is true, because I’ve read the Quran.
And as everyone who’s read the Quran knows, it’s a scientific catastrophe.
The Quran is to science what a pigeon is to a shiny new car.
But since the argument from scientific accuracy, much like Bruce Willis’s character
in “The Sixth Sense,” doesn’t know it’s dead, I thought this might be a good time to explain
why the claim that science supports the Quran is beyond ridiculous.
Let’s start with the latest mutation of this argument.
Hey David I have a question for you.
It is a proven fact that the American astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1925 was the first to prove
that the universe is expanding.
Right.
Anyways.
If he is the first man to know then how did the Quran over 1300 hundred years ago
from this date say, quote, “The heaven, We have built it with power.
Verily, We are expanding it.” (51:47) ‘We are expanding it’ is the translation
of the plural present particle musi’una of the verb ausa’a meaning “to make wider,
more spacious, to extend, to expand.”
How did the Quran say this over 1300 hundred years ago before Edwin Hubble.
Only one way.
The Quran is true.
And if the Quran is true then god is also true.
And you can’t deny this fact because it is written in history that Edwin Hubble was
the first man to know this.
NASA named the Hubble telescope after him.
So he's not a random guy from his basement.
There you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen.
The Quran says that the universe is expanding.
But this wasn’t confirmed until the twentieth century.
How could the author of the Quran know something that couldn’t be known in the seventh century?
Easy.
The author of the Quran was the great god Allah, who knows everything . . .
except third-grade math, and that the Christian scriptures contradict Islam,
and that grown men shouldn’t have sex with prepubescent girls.
So, should we believe in the Quran because of verses like Surah 51, verse 47?
Let me give you three reasons these scientific arguments for the Quran fail.
First, the verses Muslims quote to show that the Quran contains miraculous scientific insights
are never, ever clear.
They’re always, always hopelessly unclear.
Take Surah 51, verse 47.
The translation we’re given is:
“The heaven, We have built it with power. Verily, We are expanding it.”
“We are expanding it.”
Obviously, if the verse is clear, then when we go to various translations of the Quran,
they should agree that the Quran is saying that Allah is expanding the universe.
Let’s look at a few translations.
Pickthall: “We have built the heaven with might, and We it is Who make the vast extent (thereof).”
Shakir: “And the heaven, We raised it high with power, and most surely We are the makers
of things ample.”
Sher Ali: “And We have built the heavens with Our own hands, and, verily, We have vast powers.”
Yusuf Ali: “With power and skill did We construct the Firmament:
for it is We Who create the vastness of space.”
Malik: “We have built the heavens with Our hands, for We have the power to do so.”
Omar: “As for the heaven, We have built it with (Our) Mighty power, and verily We
are Makers of the vast extent.”
Haque: “And We have built the heaven with hands (the Divine Power), and it is We Who
give the expanse.”
Haleem: “We built the heavens with Our power and made them vast.”
The Study Quran: “And the sky We established with might; truly We make it vast!”
That’s strange.
Why don’t any of these translations say that the universe is expanding?
We can only conclude that, if the Quran is somehow saying that the universe is expanding,
it’s so incredibly unclear that most translators don’t even know what it’s saying.
Not a great foundation for a scientific miracle.
Side note: Watch what happens in the comments when some of the Arabic-speaking Christians
break down the Arabic of this verse.
Second, all of the Quran verses that are actually clear and are addressing a scientific topic
are wrong.
Take, for instance, Surah 18, verses 85 to 86:
So he followed a course.
Until when he reached the place where the sun set, he found it going down into a black sea,
and found by it a people.
We said: O Zulqarnain! either give them a chastisement or do them a benefit.
The Quran plainly declares that there is a place where the sun sets, and that it sets
in body of water, and that you can go there, and that there are people who live there.
What are we supposed to do now?
We’re supposed to perform a miracle— the Miracle of Reinterpretation!
We’re supposed to reinterpret this perfectly clear verse and pretend it’s only saying
that Zulqarnain saw the sun’s reflection on a body of water and thought that it was
setting in the water.
We’re supposed to say this in spite of the Quran’s clear claim that
“he reached the place where the sun set.”
But there’s another problem here—namely, Muhammad.
Muhammad just couldn’t keep his Black Stone smooching, child-tongue-sucking mouth closed.
He ruined the Miracle of Reinterpretation.
Sunan Abu Dawud 4002:
It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: “I was riding behind the Messenger of Allah
while he was on a donkey, and the sun was setting.
He said: ‘Do you know where this (sun) sets?’
I said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’
He said: ‘It sets in a spring of warm water.’”
Notice, Zulqarnain isn’t even mentioned, so this can’t be referring to Zulqarnain
seeing the sun’s reflection.
This is Muhammad telling his followers where the sun goes.
It sets in a spring of warm water.
“But David, can’t we just apply the ‘Weak Hadith Defense’—our go-to method whenever
our prophet says something stupid?
No, because your hadith collections keep including the grade.
So your prophet ruined your Miracle of Reinterpretation, and your publishers ruined
your Weak Hadith Defense.
We can only conclude that the Quran is wrong, and that science refutes the Quran.
Third, while Muslim apologists are going to insist that we reinterpret all of the clear
Quran verses that are scientifically false, and that we reinterpret all of the unclear
Quran verses that aren’t really saying anything scientific, these same Muslim apologists have
destroyed their credibility through their endless lies.
Why should we think that Surah 51, verse 47 of the Quran is talking about the expansion
of the universe, when most translators don’t think it’s about the expansion of the universe?
Because Muslim apologists tell us to.
Why should we think that Surah 18, verse 86 of the Quran is only saying that Zulqarnain
saw the sun’s reflection?
Because Muslim apologists tell us to.
Of course, these are the same Muslim apologists who tell us that the Quran has been perfectly
preserved, when entire chapters were lost and verses were eaten by a sheep.
These are the same Muslim apologists who tell us that Muhammad was the greatest man who
ever lived, even though he had sex with a prepubescent girl.
These are the same Muslim apologists who can’t speak for five seconds about their god or
their book or their prophet without lying.
But we’re supposed to believe what they say here, right?
No.
So, to all of the Muslims out there who still think you can convince us that the Quran is
the word of God because . . . science, it’s too late now.
The verses you go to don’t say what you claim they say;
all of the clear verses are clearly wrong; and we can’t take your calls for reinterpretation
seriously because your apologists are the biggest bunch of liars the world has ever seen.
Stop embarrassing yourselves.
Get a new book; get a new prophet;
get some apologists who aren’t compulsive liars;
and come back when you’ve got an argument that isn’t irretrievably stupid.