Can one really see in these texts a hint or suggestion to the ‘Big Bang’? More convincing is the fact that one cannot see the pillars that prevent the sky from falling on us.
In the same chapter it is alleged that the balance of the Laws of Gravitation and Centrifugal Force within a solar system is described by the above passages (p. 152ff). Again we fail to see such a statement reflected in the Qur’an.
The gravitation of a celestial body, according to the Natural Law, actually attracts any other body towards its own mass. That would, of course, eliminate the existence of the smaller celestial body. But the force of gravity is balanced by the centrifugal force due to the planet’s movement around itself and a sun. As a ball, when spinning around at the end of a string, is kept from flying away, so planets are forced away from the sun by the centrifugal force, but are kept in place by the law of gravity. So the balance between the two opposing forces keeps the planets on track. It was Isaac Newton, who discovered these Laws in the 17th century.
Do we actually find these Natural Laws, to which Dr. Bucaille refers, directly or by implication, in the Qur’an in general, or in these mentioned verses in particular? Certainly not in the suggested texts. And could Isaac Newton have formulated these Laws of Nature, as he did, based on the knowledge of the above verses, if he had access to them? I am sure we agree that with the best will in the world it would need a lot of imagination to let these verses explain the function of our universe. But Dr. Bucaille did it, and he went even further. He discovered in the Qur’an a prediction for astronauts:
“O ye assembly of Jinns and men! If it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth pass ye! Not without authority shall ye be able to pass!” (Surah Ar-Rahman, 55:33).
It is further assumed that when the Qur’an speaks of seven heavens (e.g. Surah 78:12), the number seven merely means plurality. From that he concludes that the Qur’an clearly states that there would be many heavens and earths in the universe, a fact that could only be verified in our time (p. 141). Without being antagonistic, one can surely question the logic of such an argument.
In fairness we acknowledge that the Qur’an, was composed under the then prevailing worldview, which also assumed that the earth is a disc and not a sphere, as we know today:
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