THE Holy Quran which was revealed more than 14 centuries ago included many scientific facts, pertaining to Earth and its creation that humans began to discover during the mid-19th century. These facts were not proven scientifically until the late 20th century. This proves the divinity and authenticity of the message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), as no man in the times when he lived, or even several centuries later knew any thing about these geological facts that were already there in the Holy Quran.

Quranic verses are not meant to be pieces of scientific information, because scientific knowledge has been left for man to gain through observation and experiment, but those verses in the Holy Quran that have cosmic reflections do convey some absolute facts about the universe. 

It has been mentioned in the Holy Quran how the mountains were created as pegs or pickets and as stabilisers for the earth and the descent of iron from the outer part of the Earth. It is clearly said in the Holy Quran that hot lava flows out from such deep faults (22:6). The flows of such lava can cause the surface of Earth to shake, which leads to the movement of these faulted blocks and the formation of trenches in which deep roots of mountains are formed. 

"Have we not made earth as a levelled expanse and the mountains as pegs?" asks the Holy Book. The description of mountains as pegs clearly implies that such striking geomorphic features are not just the lofty elevation that we see on the surface of earth but their downward extensions in the earth's lithosphere. 

Facts regarding mountain roots started to unfold upon mankind in the middle of the 19th century. 

The mountains serve as stabilisers for the earth, a fact that can be clearly seen in the role played by their very deep roots which penetrate the total thickness of continental lithospheric places that float into the underlying, dense, viscous semi-molten asthenosphere. This fact has been mentioned in the Holy Quran which reads "And by the mountain He (God) has stabilised it (the earth) as a matter of convenience for you (mankind) and for your cattle." 

Another proven fact which is mentioned in the Holy Quran is about the seas. "And by the sea that is set on fire", is a verse, which was later proven. When Earth scientists researched the seas, they discovered that all of the present day oceans and some seas such as Red Sea and the Arabian Sea are actually set on fire, while others such as Mediterranean, the Black Seas and Caspian are not. 

The recent researchers believe that such fire on the sea bed is in the form of very hot basaltic flows and other magmatic extrusions pouring out of the rift valley systems and rupturing the earth's lithosphere. Such rifts run for tens of thousands of kilometres across the globe in all directions to the depth of 65-150km where they connect with the sea bed, causing the seas to be set on fire. 

Quranic verses with geological notions exceed 110 in number and the word Earth is mentioned 461 times in the Holy Quran. The range of creations that have a mention in the Holy Book vary from the smallest to the biggest, not only on the single planet - Earth, but also in tall the other worlds and galaxies. It refers to all beings inhabiting and transcending infinite space which is modern scientists are focusing upon quite intensely.  Just about every day, there is some sensational news item about outer space - and the news is all already there for those who understand in the Holy 
Quran. 

The 114 chapters of the Holy Quran called 'suras' comprise 6,616 verses. Out of these, about 500 verses deal with religious, spiritual and moral issues, while 750 verses pertain to the exposition of the great wonders of Allah's creation. 

In many verses of the Holy Quran it has been stressed that nature ought to be preserved, and no natural resource must be over-burdened or misused. The links between forests and global warming, and the stress on plantation and
landscaping is another area that has been referred to in several places in the Holy Quran. 

The Holy Quran forbids the misuse and wastage of natural resources and reminds people of exercising restraint and limitation in using the natural bounties. It abhors wastage of any kind. 

The teachings that ask for the showing of kindness to animals, and forbidding the hunting of animals for pleasure's sake have a direct relevance to the importance of biodiversity that the Holy Quran stresses upon. 

- (KT /Nov2001)