Islam and Science, Animals in the Glorious Quran
23:47
20 Jun 2011
Biology, Miracles / Ijaz
Zaghloul R. M. El-Naggar (An-Najjar)
In this full episode of Islam and Science from Peace TV, Zaghloul El-Naggar discusses animals in the Quran. The first four minutes of the video provide context for his presentation on iʿjāz.
Topics discussed include the communities in which animals live, bees and honey (and how it’s used medicinally in a wide variety of contexts), ants, the importance of communication among animals and insects, spiders and their webs, including here as a metaphor for weakness.
The original air date of the episode is unknown. The credits have been clipped from the end.
Evaluation:
The material on Islam is within the bounds of what Muslims have historically understood as acceptable.
El-Naggar suggests that scientific facts (here about animals) are evidence of the divine source of the Qurʾān, a form of iʿjāz. He assumes that no taxonomy for classifying animals occurred before the 7th century, which is incorrect.
There is insufficient historical material on 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.