Islam
Père Zakaria Boutros

Miraculousness of the quran
The verses of the universe

The author      : Father Zakaria Boutros
The publisher:  www.fatherzakaria.com

It was said in the quran:"So I swear by locations of the stars, that is indeed a great oath, if you but know" The Event chapter (Surat Al-Waqi'ah) 75, 76
Dr: Al-Najjar made two comments on that verse, as he said:
1) man wonders from the  great oath by the locations of the stars, as the stars are of the greatest God's creation in the universe" ( the verses of scientific miraculousness in the quran, page 38), on that he said: [the story of the universe was assembled by the noble quran in extreme precision in six verses recapitulating the creation of the universe and its demise and recreation once again in comprehensiveness and precision that is extremely miraculous, no man could reach such imagination till the end of the twentieth century] ( the verses of scientific miraculousness in the quran, page 45)
The story of universe creation that he said about it: no man could reach such imagination till the end of the twentieth century, and also he said: the story of the universe was assembled by the noble quran in extreme precision in six verses recapitulating the creation of the universe….
I am telling his Excellency, did you read the story of creation with much more precision and easiness in the book of Genesis that was written 2000 years before Islam? , now listen to what the Holy Bible is saying in its first page, first chapter of the book of Genesis:" In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters, God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;" and it was so. God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. "(Genesis 1:1-19)
Did you see dear how perceive and easy that saying, please go and read the Holy Bible i.e. the Taurât and the bible to get more knowledge, and I am repeating the saying of your prophet on them "Then bring a Book from Allah, which is a better guide than these two , that I may follow it." (The Narration chapter (Surat Al-Qasas) 28:49)
The stars and the planets:
The stars were mentioned in extreme precision in the Holy Bible, as in the book of Job, that was written 2600 years before Islam, we can find the names of many stars and planets, that the noble quran – with all of our respect to it – did not mention any thing like them :
+ In (Job 9:7-9) he said: He commands the sun… and seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens…, He makes the Arcturus, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south"(those are names and locations of some stars)

+ In (Job 38:31, 32) God said to Prophet Job showing him who weak he was:" "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the houses in their season? Or can you guide the Arcturus with her daughters? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion (control) over the earth?" (Those are also names and locations of some stars that are accordant with what is known in the astronomy)
But let us discuss that in more details

1) What is the cluster of the Pleiades?

1- A cluster is a regular chain of stars forming like a cluster
2- the Pleiades: about it (the Holy Book dictionary page 234) said: [the Pleiades is the name of a group of stars, and it is existing in the neck of Ox constellation, they appear in the beginning of the spring, about six or seven of those stars could be seen by the naked eye …the old Hebrews and the Sumerians in general (in the very ancient time) were paying much attention for studying the astronomy]

That saying is totally accord with recent science that spoke about the Pleiades {they are a chain in the Ox constellation, including several hundreds of stars laying about 325 – 350 light year away, but only seven of them are apparent to the naked eye for that they were called the seven sisters ….very anciently they were clearer than now so they were apparent to the naked eye} [the simplified Arabic encyclopedia, page 579]

2) What is the Orion?

It was mentioned in the book of Job in the Holy Bible (38:31)" or loosens the cords of Orion", also in the book of (Amos 5:8):" who made the Pleiades and Orion"
It was mentioned in (the Holy Book dictionary page 245) [the Orion is one of the constellations" Orion", it is a group of planets including 1000 planets and they are seen by the telescope … the Orion was described as man with enormous power  ... this group are seen beside the Greatest Bear

That saying accords with what was mentioned in the simplified Arabic encyclopedia, page 610[the Orion is a group of planets described by the ancestors as a militant, including seven bright stars…]

3) And about the houses, mentioned by Job" Can you lead forth the houses "?

The houses are the constellations, as the constellation in the language is the house built on the citadel {the intermediary dictionary, part one, page 47}
Also in the (the Holy Book dictionary page 968) it was mentioned that [the houses are the twelve planets, the ancient pagans were worshiping them, even the Jews of Jerusalem themselves they worshiped them during the time of king yeshiva who abated its worshiping (2 kings 23:5)
Also in [the simplified Arabic encyclopedia, page 1507] {those twelve planets exist around the circle of the constellation (the constellational planets)

4) What about the Arcturus, mentioned in (Job 9: 9)" He makes the Arcturus, Orion, and the Pleiades"and In (Job 38:31)"you guide the Arcturus with her daughters"

In the Holy Book dictionary page 972 it was mentioned that {the Arcturus is a big planet with a very bright light, name by the Greek and Romans, the Greatest Bear}
In the simplified Arabic encyclopedia, page 782 [the Greatest Bear is a northern planet….to which many ancient names were given, like the plough and the wagon (Arcturus)…]

5) And her daughters (the Arcturus' s daughters) the simplified Arabic encyclopedia, page 782 said; [with the Greatest Bear planet (Arcturus)there are four stars forming the  dipper, and three forming the hand…]

6) What about the " the chambers of the south:" they are the southern planets, as after he mentioned the planets and the stars of the north, he mentioned also the rest of the sky planets in the south

Beside what was declared by the Holy Bible, thousands of years ago as we explained, does his Excellency the great scientist know that Astronomy and the study of the space orbs had occupied people's mind since the most ancient times , and they reached a very great levels and invaded deep areas for the knowledge of the universe secrets, let him listen to the following facts:

1) About the stars: (the Holy Book dictionary page 958) mentioned that :{ the stars had attracted the attention of the eastern man from the ancient times (thousands of years ago) (genesis 22:17) from that emerged the astronomy that flourished to a great extent in the civilizations of "between the two rivers" in the fourth century B.C, and the other eastern civilizations were affected by it

+ (The Holy Book dictionary page 234) mentioned that" the Hebrews first and the simians in general ( from the fifth century B.C) were taking great care of the study of astronomy ", that was very obvious from the prophet Isaiah saying" let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up"( Isaiah 47:13)

Doesn't he know what was mentioned in( the simplified Arabic encyclopedia, page 1311) about the astronomy and its old history ,dating thousands of years ago , as this encyclopedia said :{ the astronomy is the science of studying the space orbs… the relics of Babylon, china and India (the very ancient civilizations thousands of years ago ) showed astronomical knowledge , the astronomy for the old Egyptians was an applied practice in drawing stars maps , making instruments for inspection of the stars and giving them special names , they knew looking into the stars from their very old  settlement time (thousands of years B.C).. they observed the moon motion and the sun motion …. the old Egyptians knew the sun eclipse and the moon occultation, they recorded some of the sky events , like the appearance of an orb in the southern part of the sky with a long tail…they knew the moon constellations , the blossom stars and the pug-nosed stars (Saturn ,Jupiter, Mars, Venus and mercury ){ the intermediary dictionary, page 259}, they left for us in the tomb of settee the first ( 1290B.C) an astronomical map , and in Dandara  tabernacle they left an astronomical circle … so the old Egyptians astronomical knowledge was not a little one

The encyclopedia continues saying: the Greek scientists (hundred of years before the Christ) handled the theoretical aspects, of them Tallies (540B.C) and Pythagoras (500B.C) and Aristotle (third century B.C i.e. 9 centuries before Islam) who considered the sun as the center of the universe … the astronomy is divided into many divisions of them: the dynamic astronomy: it deals with the intrinsic motions of the stars and the solar system

The encyclopedia continues saying: the divisions for the ancients especially the Arabs (before the time of Muhammad) were three divisions: theoretical, practical and astrologic … one of the most important references they depend on was the book Al-Sendhend, it is actually five ancient Indian books …also on the book of Patlimus, the Alexandrian scientist ( 323 B.C) , it was actually the constitution followed by the Arabic astronomers ( meaning that the Arabs before Muhammad had astronomical and stars knowledge )
Why did God swear by locations of the stars?
Dr: Al-Najjar was asking about the reason behind God's swearing by the locations of the stars, he tried to cover the word" locations" with a recent scientific frame, I would like to ask him simply if he knows about the locations of stars worshiping in the Arabic peninsula, or he ignores that ?, so let him listen to what Imam Al-Shahrestany was saying in the book of{ the rites and denominations( Al-Melal Wal Nehl)}that the stars and the planets were deities for the whole nation of Arabic peninsula, each tribe had one of them: Hamir tribe was worshiping the sun, Gozam worshiped Jupiter, kais worshiped Asharee, Assed worshiped Mercury , and Ka'ba was the temple of Saturn
Doesn't Dr: Al-Najjar realize the reason behind the swearing by the locations of the stars in the noble quran's saying ""So I swear by the locations of the stars, that is indeed a great oath, if you but know" {The Event chapter (Surat Al-Waqi'ah) 75, 76}?, actually Muhammad wished in the beginning of his mission to attract the people of the Arabic peninsula for his mission by rapprochement to the Christians and Jews and follow the other deities present in the Arabic peninsula
What affirms that, what was mentioned in (The Star chapter (Surat An-Najm) 19, 20) his saying " Have you then considered Al-Lât, and Al-'Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs) and Manât (another idol), the other third? "They were deities of idols, adding to that what was mentioned by Imam Al-Nasfy and Al-Galaleen:

1) Imam Abdullah Ibn Ahmed Al-Nasfy, decedent on year 710 H:
" peace upon him was in a gathering with his people reciting "By the star when it goes down, Your companion (Muhammad) has neither gone astray nor has erred" then when he reached saying"" Have you then considered Al-Lât, and Al-'Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs) And Manât (another idol), the other third?, he had on his tongue the addition of " those great Gharaneek (great idols),{ meaning that the fabulous and the highly respected} their intercession ( intermediation}are well accepted." Then he was alerted by Gabriel peace upon him, he told him that this was from Satan
(Al-Nasfy exegesis (tafsir), part three, page161)
 2) It was mentioned in the exegesis of Al-Galaleen:
The prophet peace upon him was reciting from the Star chapter (Surat An-Najm) in the presence of the people of korish some words" Have you then considered Al-Lât, and Al-'Uzza (two idols of the pagan Arabs). And Manât (another idol of the pagan Arabs) the other third, "Then Satan threw some falsehood on the tongue of the messenger peace upon him without his knowledge, " those great "Gharaneek"{great idols), their intercession is accepted ' they were delighted by that saying, then Gabriel told him that such recitation was thrown by Satan on his tongue, he was grieved for that, so he was solaced by that verse
Don't you realize like me the trials of the messenger for propitiation of the tribes in the Arabic peninsula by glorifying their deities?, exactly like what he said about the Sabians who were also worshipers  of the stars and planets {the intermediary dictionary for the Arabic language committee, part one, page 505}, as he said in The Table chapter (Surat Al-Ma'idah')5: 69:"those who believe, the Jews , the Sabians and the Christians, - whosoever believed in Allah and the Last Day, and worked righteousness, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" also in {the cow chapter (Surat Al-Baqarah) 2: 62}
So by locations of the stars he meant the places at which they worshiped the stars, he avoided swearing with the stars themselves, not be accused of worshiping them as they did
The vision of locations of the stars, not the stars themselves
About the trial of Dr: Al-Najjar to cover the word" locations" with a recent scientific frame, for promoting it to the level of foretelling and the scientific miraculousness!! By his saying:" man can never see the stars from the surface of this earth, but he sees the locations passed by those stars {the verses of scientific miraculousness in the noble quran, page 39}, thinking that this scientific fact was first mentioned in the noble quran, we are saying to him that: the Holy Bible spoke about the continuous stars motion in a very wonderful eloquent expression saying" They are wandering stars"(Judas verse 13)
In spite of the existence of all of those facts in the Holy Bible six centuries before the noble quran, we are not claiming that the Holy Bible shows a scientific miraculousness within it , but we are always saying that the Holy Bible is a spiritual book , providing man with what he needs from the spiritual food , an guidance in his spiritual life with his loving God