Oceanology in the Noble Quran:
The following article was sent to me by brother/sister mdzamin_ezaz@yahoo.com; may Allah Almighty be pleased with him/her.
OCEANOLOGY
BARRIER BETWEEN SWEET AND SALT WATERS
Consider the following Qur'anic verses:
"HE has let free The two bodies Of flowing water, Meeting together: Between them
is a Barrier Which they do not transgress."
[AL-QUR'AN
55:19:20]
In the Arabic text the word 'barzakh' means a barrier or a partition. The Arabic word 'maraja' literally means 'they both meet and mix with each other.' Early commentators of the QUR'AN were unable to explain the two opposite meanings for the two bodies of water, i.e. they meet and mix, and at the same time, there is a barrier between them. Modern Science has discovered that in places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has ita own temperature, salinity and density. {Principles of Oceanography, Davis, pp. 92-93.} Oceanologists are now in a better position to explain this verse. There is a slanted unseen water barrier between the seas through which water from one sea passes to the other. But when the water from one sea enters the other sea, it loses its distinctive characteristic and becomes homogenized with the other water. In a way this barrier serves as a transitional homogenizing area for the two waters. This scientific phenonmenon mentioned in the QUR'AN was also confirmed by Dr. William Hay who is a well-known marine scientist and Professor og Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, U.S.A.
The QUR'AN mentions this phenomenon also in the following verse:
"And made a separating bar Between the two bodies Of flowing water?"
[AL-QUR'AN
27:61]
This phenomenon occurs in several places, including the divider between the Mediteranean and the Atlantic Ocean at Gibralter. But when the QUR'AN speaks about the divider between fresh and salt water, it mentions the exisence of ' a forbidding partition' with the barrier.
"It is HE WHO has Let free the two bodies Of flowing water: One palatable and
sweet, And the other salty and bitter; Yet has HE Made a barrier between them, And a
partition that is forbidden To be passed.
[AL-QUR'AN
25:53]
Modern Science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh(sweet) and salt water meet, the situation is somewhat different from that found in places where two seas meet. It has been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuarie is a "pycnocline zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers." {Oceanography, Gross, p.242. Also see Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, pp. 300-301 ; Oceanography, Gross, p. 244 and Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, pp.300-301} This phenomenon occurs in several places, including Egypt, where the river Nile flows into the Medierranean Sea.
DARKNESS IN THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN
Prof. Durga Rao is an expert in the field of Marine Geology and was a professor at King
Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. He was asked to comment on the following verse:
"Or (the Unbelievers' state) Is like the depths of darkness In a vast deep ocean,
Overwhelmed with billow Topped by billow, Topped by (dark) clouds: Depths of darkness, one
Above another: if a man Stretches out his hand, He can hardly see it! For any to whom
ALLAH Giveth not light, There is no light!"
[AL-QUR'AN
21:40]
Prof. Rao said that scientists have only now been able to confirm, with the help of modern equipment that there is darkness in the depths of the ocean. Humans are unable to dive unaided underwater for more than 20 to 30 metres, and cannot survive in the deep oceanic regions at a depth of more than 200 metres. This verse does not refer to all seas because not every sea can be described as having accumulated darkness layered one over another. It refers especially to a deep sea or deep ocean, as the QUR'AN says, 'darkness in a vast deep ocean.' This layered darkness in a deep ocean is the result of two causes:
1. A light ray is composed of seven colours. These seven colours are Violet, Indigo, Blue.
Green, Yellow, Orange and Red(VIBGYOR). The light ray undergoes refraction when it hits
water. The upper 10 to 15 metres of water absorb the red colour. Therefore if a diver is
25 metres under water and gets wounded, he would not be able to see the red colour of his
blood, because the red colour does not reach this depth. Similarly orange rays are
absorbed at 30 to 50 metres, yellow at 50 to 100 metres, green at 100 to 200 metres, and
finally, blue beyond 200 metres and violet and indigo above 200 metres. Due to successive
disapperance of colour, one layer after another, the ocean progressively becomes darker,
i.e. darkness takes place in layers of light. Below a depth of 1000 metres there is
complete darkness.{Oceans, Elder and Pernetta, p.27}
2.The sun's rays are absorbed by clouds which in turn scatter light rays thus causing a
layer of darkness under the clouds. This is the first layer of darkness. When light rays
reach the surface of the ocean they are reflected by the wave surface giving it a shiny
appearance. Therefore it is the waves which reflect light and cause darkness.The
unreflected light penetrates into the depths of the ocean. Therefore the ocean has two
parts. The surface characterized by light and warmth and the depth characterized by
darkness. The surface is further separated from the deep part of the ocean by waves. The
internal waves cover the deep waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a
higher density than the waters above them. The darkness begins below the internal waves.
Even the fish in the depths of the ocean cannot see; their only source of light is from
their own bodies.The QUR'AN rightly mentions:
"Darkness in a vast deep ocean overwhelmed with waves topped by waves."
In other words, above these waves there are more types of waves, i.e. those found on the surface of the ocean. The Qur'anic verse continues,
"topped by (dark) clouds; depths of darkness, one above another."
These clouds as explained are barriers one over the other that further cause darkness by
absorption of colours at different levels. Prof. Durga Rao concluded by saying, "1400
years ago a normal human being could not explain this phenomenon in so much detail. Thus
the information must have come from a supernatural source."
To be continued ...
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