Life originated from water in the Noble Quran:
The sections of this article are:
- The origin of life in the Noble Quran.
- The Bible never mentioned that life originated from water.
- Articles and links of official web sites that confirm the Noble Quran's claims.
Allah Almighty in the Noble Quran makes very important scientific claims:
"He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days - and His Throne was over the waters - that He might try you, which of you is best in conduct. But if thou wert to say to them, "Ye shall indeed be raised up after death", the Unbelievers would be sure to say, "This is nothing but obvious sorcery!" (The Noble Quran, 11:7)"
"Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (The Noble Quran, 21:30)"
"It is He Who has created man from water: then has He established relationships of lineage and marriage: for thy Lord has power (over all things). (The Noble Quran, 25:54)"
"And God has created every animal from water: of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. God creates what He wills for verily God has power over all things. (The Noble Quran, 24:45)"
"Protoplasm is the basis of all living matter, and 'the vital power of protoplasm seems to depend on the constant presence of water' (Lowsons' Text-book of Botany, Indian Edition. London 1922, p. 23). Text books of Zoology are also clear on the point. For example, see T.J. Parker and W.A. Haswell, Textbook of Zoology, London, 1910, Vol I. p. 15: 'Living protoplasm always contains a large amount of water.' " [2]
"About 72 percent of the surface of our Globe is still covered with water, and it has been estimated that if the inequalities of the surface were all leveled, the whole surface would be under water, as the mean elevation of land sphere-level would be 7,000-10,000 feet below the surface of the ocean (cf. 11:7). This shows the predominance of water on our Globe. That all life began in the water is also a conclusion to which our latest knowledge in biological science points. Apart from the fact that protoplasm, the original basis of living matter, is liquid or semi-liquid and in a state of constant flux and instability, there is the fact that land animals, like the higher vertebrates, including man, show, in their embryological history, organs like those of fishes, indicating the watery origin of their original habitat. The constitution of protoplasm is about 80 to 85 percent water (see also 24:30-31 and 24:45)." [3]
The Bible never mentioned that life originated from water:
For those who say that "Muhammad stole from the Bible", the Bible never said that life originated from water. In fact, the Bible says that water was created along with other things such as "light", "darkness", "dry land", "sky", "animals", "vegetation", etc..., and it is used for aiding life such as the animals and vegetations:
From the NIV Bible, Genesis 1:1-20:
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And
there was evening, and there was morning-the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from
water."
7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above
it. And it was so.
8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning-the
second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
ground appear." And it was so.
10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called
"seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on
the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it
was so.
12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees
bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
13 And there was evening, and there was morning-the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day
from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And
it was so.
16 God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to
govern the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that
it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above
the earth across the expanse of the sky."
Please be advised that the following analysis and comments are not meant to criticize the
Bible or to prove it wrong. They are only meant to prove that Islam's claims are
indeed unique and didn't exist in the Bible before.
Some analysis to the verses above:
1- In Genesis 1:1-2, and Genesis 1:6-9 we see that GOD Almighty created the Heavens and the Earth, and the Heavens were filled with water. GOD created "expanse" to separate the waters in the Heaven. He called the expanse a "sky". Then GOD gathered all of the water under the sky in one place on Earth and then created dry land and made seas from the water. And GOD saw that it was good. The Earth was originally made of water.
2- In Genesis 1:20, we see that GOD made water teem or prosper with the living creatures.
Even though the Bible is correct about the Earth being initially a liquid planet before land ever existed if we were to interpret Genesis 1:2 as such even though it doesn't really directly say so especially in Genesis 1:9 "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.", which could be interpreted as WATER WAS COVERING LAND WHEN GOD'S SPIRIT WAS HOVERING OVER THE WATERS (Genesis 1:2), AND NOT NECESSARILY EARTH WAS ALL 100% WATER, but no where does it mention that life of any animal or human being originated from water. The Bible seems to suggest that water was created first since "the Spirit of GOD was hovering over it" , and then GOD Almighty created light, darkness, sky, vegetation, animals, made land appear etc....., but never did the Bible claim that the life of any human being or animal was created from water. The Bible suggests that animals were created by GOD Almighty without the use of water. He just said "let there be animals", and there was animals.
According to the verses above, the relationship between the water and animals for instance, is the same thing between the animals and the vegetation or any other creation. The Bible talks about water as a solo creation of GOD that had nothing to do with the creation of anything else. The Bible claims that on some spots on Earth that were occupied by water, he created land, and then vegetations and then animals, etc.... So this doesn't prove at all that the Bible claims that animal and human life was originated from water.
And also, if we were to assume from the Bible that the Universe originated from water, then we would be in grave scientific error. The Universe out side earth did not originate from water. It originated from Hot Smoke or Hot Gas, in which also amazingly was mentioned in the Noble Quran.
I just want to make it clear that the Quranic scientific claims are much more accurate than the ones in the Bible. The Noble Quran was crystal clear in claiming that life originated from water. The Bible simply wasn't and never made such claim.
Articles and links of official web sites that confirm the Noble Quran's claims:
The following are links of official web sites that prove the Noble Quran's claims about life originating from water. I pasted the best ones in this article along with their URL:
http://ecademy.agnesscott.edu/Physics&Astronomy/SP01/A120/notes01/formearth/earth1.htm Please do a word search for "Life as we know it originated in water" in this article.
http://sln.fi.edu/qa97/biology/biopoint2.html
The following article was taken from http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/Exobiology/sites.html
There are many different theories about where the origin of life occurred. These
theories range from life beginning in deep sea thermal vents to bacterial life arriving
from other places in the universe, among others. Some of these theories are more credible
than others, yet all provide an interesting explanation for life's beginnings.
Significance of Water
Everyone knows that liquid water is essential for humans to survive. In fact, it is
essential in the chemistry of all biological systems. Water (chem window: give link to
water module) provides the medium in which the transport of molecules can occur in
reactions. Because water is necessary for all life, scientists look for evidence of liquid
water wherever they search for life, whether it is somewhere on Earth, or even somewhere
else in our solar system or beyond. In fact, astronomers are currently examining the
satellites of Jupiter, Europa and Ganymeade, and Titan, one of Saturn's satellites, to see
if they contain liquid water and the conditions which may give rise to life as we know it.
Hot link to web sites
Before we look to see where life may have begun elsewhere in the universe, let's look
at where, or how, life might have begun on the earth.
Thermal Vents
One current theory is that life originated deep beneath the surface of the ocean at
deep sea hydrothermal vents. These hydrothermal vents were first discovered in 1979. Soon
after, scientists made an exciting discovery. These vents release hot gaseous substances
from the center of the earth at temperatures in excess of 572oF.
Previously scientists were sure that life could not exist, deep beneath the surface of the
ocean. After the discovery of hydrothermal vents, they found ecosystems thriving in the
depths of the ocean. These ecosystems contained various types of fish, worms, crabs,
bacteria and other organisms which had found a way to survive in a cold, hostile
environment without energy input from sunlight. Because life had been found to exist where
it previously was thought unable to, many scientists began to ask questions as to whether
or not this was where life may have originated on the earth.
On the molecular level, the chances of life originating at deep sea thermal vents is
not likely. It is known that organic molecules are unstable at high temperatures, and are
destroyed as quickly as they are produced. It has been estimated that life could not have
arisen in the ocean unless the temperature was less than 25oC, or 77oF.
Supporters of this theory claim that the organic molecules at the thermal vents are not
formed in 300oC temperatures, but rather in a gradient formed between the
hydrothermal vent water, and the extremely cold water, 4oC (39.2oF),
which surrounds the vent at the bottom of the ocean.
The temperatures at this gradient would be suitable for organic chemistry to occur.
Debates still remain, however, as to the gradient's effectiveness in producing organic
compounds.
Extra Terrestrial Sources
Panspermia
In the early twentieth century, a Swedish chemist named Svente Arrhenius developed a
theory called panspermia. Arrhenius' theory accounted for life's origins by simply stating
that life did not originate on the Earth, but originated elsewhere in the universe. He
believed that cellular life reached the Earth hiding inside a meteor which hit the Earth
long ago. Newly uncovered evidence suggests that this might be possible, since an organism
inside a meteor (Picture of impactor) would be safe from the high levels of radiation in
space, and would be kept at a relatively low temperature. The odds of an organism surving
inside a meteor for thousands of years, however, are not high. It is even less likely that
organisms would be able to withstand the high energy impacts of bolides into the Earth or
other planetary objects. Most scientists today do not look at this hypothesis as a very
likely origin of life on the earth. However, it is considered possible, at least for now,
and so is still a candidate for life's origin on earth.
Frozen Ocean
Three billion years ago, the Sun which lights our solar system was thirty percent less
luminous than it is today. Mant people believe that if the Earth's atmosphere was the same
then as it is today, the oceans would be frozen. But recently, Jeffrey Bada of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography has proposed that the oceans would not completely freeze.
Instead, he calculates that only the top 300 meters of the ocean would freeze over.
You might think that icy cold water trapped under hundreds of meters of ice would not
be beneficial to life beginning, but in fact it is advantageous in many aspects. One
advantage is that the layer of ice would provide a protective shield by preventing
ultra-violet light, which enters the earth's atmosphere and destroys organic compounds,
from reaching the developing molecules. Another advantage is that it would provide safety
from the devestating effects of impact frustration. ( Definition Box -Impact frustration
is a theory which says that life may potentially have arisen many times, but was wiped out
due to severe bolide impacts) The water beneath the ice would be cold, allowing for
organic molecules to survive over much longer periods of time. These organic molecules
could have been provided by the hydrothermal vents still prevalent on the ocean floor
today. With a sufficient supply of organic molecules safe from ultra-violet radiation and
bolide impact frustration, many believe that this was the environment allowing life to get
a foothold on a hostile earth.
With a barrier between the atmosphere and the ocean, the debate concerning the composition of the atmosphere becomes much less significant. All of the components needed for organic syntheses such as the Strecker synthesis would be provided and kept stable, while the bottom of the ocean would provide a place for organics to gather and react. Following this reasoning, the atmospheric composition may only be important after life came out of the water, when life had already begun.
Bibliography:
1- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an.
Author: Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
Published by: Amana Publications, 10710 Tucker Street, Suite B, Beltsville, Maryland
20705-2223 USA.
Telephone: (301) 595-5777.
Fax: (301) 595-5888.
ISBN: 0-91597-59-0 (HC).
2- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an [1], foot note #3021, page 880.
3- The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an [1], foot note #2691, page 801.
Back to Science in the Noble Quran and Islam.
The Big Bang Theory and the Cosmic Crunch in the Noble Quran. Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him predicted around the time when the Cosmic Crunch occurs, the Sun would rise from the West.
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