Rebuttal to Sam Shamoun's article

The Thunder and the Moon

Examples of "Islamic Science" Fiction

 

By

 

 

 

 

http://./Shamoun/thunder.htm

 

Sam Shamoun has written yet another article in which he claims the Quran contains science fiction. In this rebuttal we shall examine these claims and see if Sam's arguments really fit his claim of calling 'science fiction'.

 

Shamoun's comments will be in green, followed by responses in black.

 

Is the Thunder an Angel?

 

The Quran says that thunder glorifies Allah

 

And Ar-Ra'd (thunder) glorifies and praises Him, and so do the angels because of His Awe, He sends the thunderbolts, and therewith He strikes whom He wills, yet they (disbelievers) dispute about Allah. And He is Mighty in strength and Severe in punishment. S. 13:13 Hilali Khan

 

Normally, one would assume that this simply a poetic way of describing how creation glorifies God by doing the very thing it was designed to do. In other words, one can argue that the author is personifying thunder in order to highlight how it serves God by accomplishing the purpose for which it was created.

 

When we turn to the Muslim sources, however, it is rather apparent that the author of the Quran believed that the thunder wasn’t simply an impersonal force, but an angel. The Tafsir of Ibn Abbas says in reference to this text:

 

(The thunder hymneth His praise) by His command; it is an angel; it is also said: it is the voice of the sky (and (so do) the angels) and also the angels hymn His praise (for awe of Him) the angels have awe towards Allah. (He launcheth the thunder bolts) i.e. fire (and smiteth with them whom He will) He destroys by means of fire whoever He will, referring here to Zayd Ibn Qays whom Allah destroyed by fire, along with his friend ‘Amir Ibn al-Tufayl who was killed as a result of being stabbed in his waist (while they dispute (in doubt) concerning Allah) while they dispute with Muhammad (pbuh) concerning the Religion of Allah, (and He is mighty in wrath) His chastisement is severe. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs; source <http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=2&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=13&tAyahNo=13&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0>; bold and underline emphasis ours)

 

The renowned commentators, the two Jalals, wrote:

 

And the thunder - this is an angel, who is in charge of the clouds, driving them, [while he] constantly, proclaims His praise, that is, he says, 'Glory be to God through His praise' (subhana'Llah wa-bi-hamdihi), and so too the angels, proclaim His praise, in awe of Him, that is, of God. He unleashes the thunderbolts - these are a fire which issues forth from the clouds - and smites with them whom He will, such that it burns [that person]: this was revealed regarding a man to whom the Prophet (s) had sent someone to invite [to Islam] and who said, 'Who is the Messenger of God? And what is God? Is He [made] of gold, or of silver, or of copper?', whereupon a thunderbolt came down on him and blew off the top of his head; yet they, that is, the disbelievers, dispute, argue with the Prophet (s), about God, though He is great in might, in power, or in [the severity of His] retribution. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn; source <http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=13&tAyahNo=13&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0>; bold and underline emphasis ours)

 

RESPONSE

 

Tafsir Ibn Kathir writes on this verse:

 

(And Ar-Ra'd (thunder) glorifies and praises Him), is similar to His other statement,

[????? ???? ?????? ?????? ????????? ??????????](And there is not a thing but glorifies His praise.) [17:44] Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibrahim bin Sa`d said, "My father told me that he was sitting next to Hamid bin `Abdur Rahman in the Masjid. A man from the tribe of Ghifar passed and Hamid sent someone to him to please come to them. When he came, Hamid said to me, `My nephew! Make space for him between me and you, for he had accompanied Allah's Messenger .' When that man came, he sat between me and Hamid and Hamid said to him, `What was the Hadith that you narrated to me from the Messenger of Allah ' He said, `A man from Ghifar said that he heard the Prophet say, i

 

«????? ????? ????????? ?????????? ?????????? ???????? ?????????? ?????????? ???????? ????????»(Verily, Allah originates the clouds, and they speak in the most beautiful voice and laugh in the most beautiful manner.) It appears, and Allah has the best knowledge, that the cloud's voice is in reference to thunder and its laughter is the lightning. Musa bin `Ubaydah narrated that Sa`d bin Ibrahim said, "Allah sends the rain and indeed, none has a better smile than it, nor more comforting voice. Its smile is lightning and its voice is thunder.''

 

Supplicating to Allah upon hearing Ar-Ra`d (Thunder)

Imam Ahmad recorded that Salim bin `Abdullah narrated that his father said that the Messenger of Allah used to say upon hearing the thunder and thunderbolts,

«?????????? ??? ??????????? ??????????? ????? ??????????? ???????????? ?????????? ????? ?????»(O Allah! Do not kill us with Your anger, nor destroy us with Your torment, and save us before that.'' This Hadith was recorded by At-Tirmidhi, Al-Bukhari in his book Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, An-Nasa'i in `Amal Al-Yawm wal-Laylah, and Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak. When `Abdullah bin Az-Zubayr used to hear thunder, he would stop talking and would supplicate, "All praise is to He Whom Ar-Ra`d (thunder) glorifies and praises, and so do the angels because of His awe.'' He would then say, "This is a stern warning to the people of earth.'' Malik collected this Hadith in Al-Muwatta', and Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

 

«????? ????????? ????? ???????: ???? ????? ???????? ??????????? ???????????????? ????????? ???????????? ???????????? ?????????? ????????? ????????????? ??????? ?????????????? ?????? ????????»(Your Lord, the Exalted and Most High, said, `Had My servants obeyed Me, I would have given them rain by night and the sun by day, and would not have made them hear the sound of the Ra`d (thunder).') Allah's statement,

 

[?????????? ??????????? ????????? ????? ??? ???????](He sends the thunderbolts, and therewith He strikes whom He wills,) indicates that He sends thunderbolts as punishment upon whom He wills, and this is why thunderbolts increase as time comes to an end. Al-Hafiz Abu Al-Qasim At-Tabarani narrated that Ibn `Abbas said that Arbad bin Qays bin Juzu' bin Julayd bin Ja`far bin Kulab, and `Amir bin At-Tufayl bin Malik came to Al-Madinah to the Messenger of Allah and sat where he was sitting. `Amir bin At-Tufayl said, "O Muhammad! What will you give me if I embrace Islam'' The Messenger of Allah said,

 

As you can see, Ibn Kathir said nothing about ar-rad being an angel, nor does the Quranic text imply anything about an angel, the Quranic text clearly says that the thunder praises Allah, ar-rad praises Allah, the Surah title is also called ar-rad meaning thunder, it is not called the angel of thunder, nor does the verse say the angel of thunder neither. It is most likely that these two tafsirs refered to ar-rad as an angel because the archangel Michael is the angel who under the command of God brings thunder and lightening to earth. However so it the more correct view is that ar-rad in the verse is refering to thunder, not an angel, nor the archangel Michael.

 

The late Christian writer and apologist ‘Abdallah ‘Abd al-Fadi quotes another renowned commentator named al-Baidawi and from hadith compiler al-Tirmidhi:

Al Baidawi said, "Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Prophet was asked about the thunder. He answered, ‘It is an angel entrusted with the clouds. He has entwined shreds of fire with which he drives the clouds and the angels, in awe of God.’ Another opinion says that the pronoun him refers to the thunder itself."

 

Al-Tirmidhi brought out, quoting Ibn ‘Abbas, that "the Jews came to Muhammad and said, ‘Tell us about the thunder. What is it?’ He said, ‘One of the angels who is entrusted with the clouds. He has entwined shreds of fire with which he drives the clouds wherever God wills.’ They asked, ‘What is this sound, then, which is heard?’ He said, ‘It is his rebuke to the clouds, that they should stop where they have been commanded.’ They said, ‘You have spoken the truth!’" (Abd al-Fadi, Is the Qur’an Infallible? [Light of Life, P.O. Box 13, A-9503 Villach, Austria], p. 27)

 

RESPONSE

 

The prophet here did not explicitly mean that thunder is an angel, he meant that thunder is brought by the angel, by God's command. The Jews asked the prophet what is thunder, he said it is one of the angels entrusted with the cloud, in other words the thunder is brought by the angels, such as the arch-angel Michael who brings down thunder and lightening.

 

The problem with the above claims is that thunder "is the sound of the shockwave caused when lightning instantly heats the air around it to up to 30 000 °C (54 000 °F). That super-heated air expands rapidly, then contracts as it cools. The rapid expansion/contraction generates sound waves, making the sound that is called ‘thunder.’" (Source: Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunder>) In particular, thunder is merely a side effect of lightning, not an independent agent.

 

RESPONSE

Yes, and this is caused by the angel, again the prophet did not explicitly mean that the thunder is an angel, rather the thunder is brought by an angel, the angel entrusted with the clouds, the angel who brings lighting and thunder, i.e. the arch-angel Michael.

 

Moreover, no physicist or meteorologist would support the claim that thunder is driving the clouds. It is the wind that does so, and wind is caused by temperature and pressure differences (see Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind>). Thunder can neither make a cloud move in any significant way nor can it stop one.

 

RESPONSE

Thunder is not an angel, it is an angel that causes the lighting and thunder, and this angel is entrusted with the cloud, it is this angel that is driving the clouds. To make things simple, we put it in point form:

 

1- God has an angel

2- God gives a task to this angel

3- This angel is entrusted with the clouds

4- The angel brings lighting and thunder

5- The angel drives the clouds

 

That is all. No scientific errors here.

 

Moon Travel?

 

According to the Quran the moon is traveling on a certain set course throughout space:

And the moon, We have measured for it mansions (to traverse) till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law). S. 36:39-40 Hilali-Khan

 

From this he says

 

Today we know that, contrary to what the Quran teaches, the moon is not traversing all throughout space but simply revolves around the earth in approximately 29.5 days. Moreover, the moon does not rest at any station but it travels around the earth in one continuous motion.

The foregoing scientific blunders are just some additional evidence that the Quran is not God’s Word.

 

RESPONSE

 

To begin with, the word traverse simply means to move, to travel etc. Is it a scientific blunder to say the moon moves? Not at all, in fact the Quran does not simply say the moon moves and travels around freely wherever it likes, regarding the movement of the moon the Quran writes:

036.040
YUSUFALI: It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law).

 

The moon moves along in its own orbit. Is this a scientific blunder? Let us see for ourselves.

The Earth's Moon is the fifth largest in the whole solar system, and is bigger than the planet Pluto. The Moon has a nearly circular orbit (e=0.05 </tour/link=/the_universe/uts/kepler1.html>) which is tilted about 5° to the plane of the Earth's orbit. Its average distance from the Earth is 384,400 km. The combination of the Moon's size and its distance from the Earth causes the Moon to appear the same size in the sky as the Sun, which is one reason we can have total solar eclipses.

It takes the Moon 27.322 days to go around the Earth once. Because of this motion, the Moon appears to move about 13° against the stars each day, or about one-half degree per hour. If you watch the Moon over the course of several hours one night, you will notice that its position among the stars will change by a few degrees. The changing position of the Moon with respect to the Sun leads to lunar phases </tour/link=/the_universe/uts/moon2.html>. (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/moon1.html)

 

All the planets except Venus and Mercury have moons. The Earth's Moon is the fifth largest in the whole solar system, and is bigger than the planet Pluto. The Moon's orbit is almost a perfect circle, so that the Moon is about 384,400 km away all the time. The Moon's size and it's distance from the Earth cause the Moon to appear the same size in the sky as the Sun, which is one reason we can have total solar eclipses.

Like all moons, our Moon is going around it's planet, the Earth. It takes the Moon about 27 days to go around the Earth once. If you check on the Moon several times during one night, you will notice that it moves relative to the stars around it. As the Moon goes around the Earth, different portions of it are lit up by the Sun, causing lunar phases <moon2.html>. (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/the_universe/uts/moon1_old.html)

Many more references could be given, but it is a scientific fact that the moon has an orbit, and it moves in this orbit. Therefore the Quran is not wrong at all in what it said, it says the moon travels, and it says that that the moon travels in its own orbit, which is a scientific fact, not a blunder.

No Islamic science fiction.