The Qur’an & Science, Darkness in the Universe
32:08
26 Jan 2012
Astronomy, Miracles / Ijaz
Zaghloul R. M. El-Naggar (An-Najjar)
Amer Mumtaz
This video is an episode of “The Qur’an and Science”, with host Amer Mumtaz, Zaghloul El-Naggar and commentators Fu’ad and Mustafa.
El-Naggar presents material about the atmosphere and other physical properties of near-space, particularly ones for which he has found support in the Qurʾān. He uses verse 15:14-15 of the Qurʾān to frame his discussion.
Topics addressed include: lack of atmosphere above 1000 km above sea level; impossibility of things traveling in a straight line in space (including light); gravitational forces; appearance of our Sun from space; scientists today don’t believe in the Qurʾān because Muslims haven’t done a good enough job telling them about it; light diminishing as you go down in the oceans; why we see light on Earth; what happens when you go into space without protection is spoken about in the Qurʾān; the ability of people to survive without daylight.
The video includes the logo for Huda-TV. The original air date of this clip is unknown; the copyright date is 2006. The end of the video includes credits.
Evaluation:
El-Naggar’s basic premise is that one may use the Qurʾān to understand science, which scientists generally find a misapplication of the scientific method. Additionally, some of his statements about cosmology are wrong. For instance, he states that if the universe were empty, it would collapse. This statement is inaccurate. The expansion or collapse of the universe would depend on the amount of matter contained in the universe and the expansion speed. If the universe is expanding and there is no matter, then it will keep on expanding forever. El-Naggar also states that nothing in outer space can go in straight lines. This is also an inaccurate statement. In the absence of any gravitational pull (i.e., if you are not close to any large body), objects (and light) travel in straight lines. In fact, the large-scale geometry of the universe appears to be flat, where Euclidean geometry holds (i.e., the sum of the angles in any triangle equals 180 degrees).
The interpretations of the Qurʾān are generally within the bounds accepted by Muslims.
There is insufficient historical material upon which to base an evaluation.
About Zaghloul R. M. El-Naggar (An-Najjar)
Born in 1933 in Egypt, Zaghloul El-Naggar received a PhD in geology in 1963 from the University of Wales in the UK. The majority of his scholarship has focused on i’jāz, the idea that scientific facts may be found in the Qurʾān, proving its miraculous nature. A collection of his videos can be found on the Discovering Islam website.
He was considered a threat by earlier Egyptian governments; he now is the head of the Committee of Scientific Notions in the Qurʾān, Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Cairo.
El-Naggar believes that scientific interpretation may only be done with material that may be experienced, unlike references to the soul, jinn, etc, which should be approached with faith alone. However, he also suggests that the Qurʾān may “orient scientists in attaining new ‘cosmic truths’.” (Bigliardi, 103)
Selected Bibliography:
His own web site: http://elnaggarzr.com/en/
The Quran & Science web site: http://www.quranandscience.com/
“Zaghloul El-Naggar” Wikipedia. Accessed 19 April 2015.
Bigliardi, S. (2014). Islam and the Quest for Modern Science: Conversations with Adnan Oktar, Mehdi Golshani, Mohammed Basil Altaie, Zaghloul El-Naggar, Bruno Guiderdoni and Nidhal Guessoum. Istanbul, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul.
“Dr. Zaghloul Najjar.” Discovering Islam. Discovering Islam, n.d. Web. Accessed 18 June 2015.