Water is a must have for having life in any planet in the Universe

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"Water is a must have for having life in any planet in the Universe - Mentioned in the Noble Quran and confirmed by Science" is a document by Answering Christianity that purports to show that the Qur'an contains scientific foreknowledge when it "predicted" that (a) water is necessary for life and (b) everything in the universe was created in twos.

The following is a side-by-side rebuttal.

Rebuttal[edit]

"Water is a must have for having life in any planet in the Universe - Mentioned in the Noble Quran and confirmed by Science", Answering Christianity:[1] RationalWiki:

Intro[edit]

1 - The Noble Quran's Claims The Holy Quran and Islam are filled with scientific statements and notions. These are statements of Allah Almighty describing how He created things on earth and in the Universe. What's most amazing is that all of these scientific statements and notions had been proven to be in perfect agreement with science and our modern-day scientific discoveries. Allah Almighty made the Noble Quran be Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) Everlasting Divine Miracle and proof for Prophethood. The Holy Book certainly stood the test of time 1,500 years ago with Its Claims, Prophecies and Miraculous language eloquence, and it does again and again in our day today with Its overwhelming agreement with science and discoveries that were not known to man 1,500 years ago.We beg to differ.


Allah Almighty Said: "We will show them Our signs in the Universe and inside their selves, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things? (The Noble Quran, 41:53)"Full text of Qur'an 41:53 (Pickthall):

We shall show them Our portents on the horizons and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that it is the Truth. Doth not thy Lord suffice, since He is Witness over all things?

This quote "proves" scientific foreknowledge by asserting that it will be found, in the future.


Water is necessary for life[edit]

With this said, let us look at what Allah Almighty Said regarding water and its importance to life in the entire Universe:

Noble Verse(s) 21:30

Yusuf Ali:

[021:030] 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?

Arabic (from right to left):

21:30

اولم ير الذين كفروا ان السماوات والارض كانتا رتقا ففتقناهما وجعلنا من الماء كل شئ حي افلايؤمنون

This Noble Verse is speaking about the Big Bang that originated the Universe. Notice how Allah Almighty Said that in the Universe, water is a must have in order to have life (on any planet in the Universe that was created from the "clove asunder" or explosion).

While it is true that humans naturally know that water is among the most important things for life, and thus, "anyone could've thought this verse out," but the Noble Verse is not just talking about earth and the quenching of our thirsts. It is rather talking about the importance of water for life after the big bang occurred, and scientists today have proven that water is a must have in order for any planet to have life on it.
Full text of Qur'an 21:30 (Pickthall):

Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We parted them, and we made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe?

It should be obvious that Answering Christianity's main claim, "water is a must have in order to have life", is not substantiated by the text. Allah states only that he created life from water, not even that life needs water.

Even more charitable interpretations of the verse fail:

  • If we interpret this as "water formed all life," then this is incorrect. Life is made many different compounds, not just H2O. Unless Allah has some magic alchemy going on, then this isn't exactly foreknowledge.
  • If we interpret this as "life formed in water", then we can't prove or falsify it. While many theories of abiogenesis hold that life probably formed in the water, it is unknown and can never be fully if this is true or not. Furthermore, it's probable that some fundamental parts of life formed in various areas on Earth, and collected together to form life, which would make this statement incorrect.
  • If we interpret this as "water is essential to life", then this is true, but hardly foreknowledge, especially when the book in question was written in an arid region where water is especially treasured.
On the "Big Bang" point, see "The Coming of the Universe into Existence".


2 - The Scientific Proofs The following articles demonstrate how water is a must have in order to have life in the Universe.Nope.


Article #1: [Warning: .wmv download.] The following film-clip contains quotes from renowned Western Astronomers and Scientists[.]This video's evidence is a quote from two astronomists that amount to "it's liquid water that's the prerequisite for life" and "water allows chemical reactions necessary for life"; no actual evidence is presented here, only a (mildly justified) appeal to authority. See below for counterexamples.


Article #2: [Warning: .wmv download.] Another film-clip from the History Channel[.]This video's narrator states that water is a good solvent, which (some) biologists theorize is necessary for life. A speaker states that water "has its polarity, which can align the bits in different attempts to arrange them in such a way that they'll chemically react with one another", and that water allows easy movement. Later, the narrator states that water has high surface tension, which helps it move through the capillary system of plants. While water is good for life, this is not the same as essential for life.


Article #3:

"All life forms need water in order to survive. Animals in dry regions, therefore, have been created with mechanisms to protect their metabolisms from water loss and to ensure maximum benefit from water use. If water loss takes place in the body for any reason, and if that loss is not made good, death will result in a few days. The famous 17th century scientist Jan Baptista van Helmont discovered in 1640s that water in the soil was the most important element of plant development.

The words "Water is the main component of organic matter. 50-90% of the weight of living things consists of water" appear regularly in encyclopaedias. Furthermore, 80% of the cytoplasm (basic cell material) of a standard animal cell is described as water in biology textbooks." (Source)
The fact that most of life on Earth needs (and is) water does not prove that life needs water. As a single counterexample, proposals for life on the surface of TitanWikipedia would live using methane; while it is not known if this is feasible, it is known that it is not (at this stage) impossible. The only reason life uses water on Earth is that it is a good solvent (like methane) and there is plenty of it; it's possible that life elsewhere uses other chemicals instead.


Several potential forms of life that don't use waterWikipedia have been proposed.


Other Related Articles on Water [Links to 18 "water-related" articles omitted.]These articles are debunked elsewhere and irrelevant to this claim.


3 - Conclusion

[Repeat of the intro omitted.]

Allah Almighty's Divine Statement about water being the base for life in the Universe, by mentioning it after the mentioning of the Big Bang event, was indeed confirmed by science today. Planets without water are lifeless. Water is a must have in order for life to exist on any planet in the Universe. Allah Almighty mentioned it, and science today has confirmed it.

Indeed, all Praise and Glory are due to Allah Almighty Alone for making the Noble Quran and the Divine Inspirations that He Sent to Prophet Muhammad be the Perfect and Everlasting Miracle, for us humans, out of all of His Divine Miracles! And may Allah Almighty send His Peace, Mercy and Blessings upon our Beloved and Blessed Prophet, Teacher and Role Model, Muhammad. Ameen.
Nothing new added here.


Duality of the universe[edit]

But what does "everything" (كل شئ) mean in Noble Verse 51:49? If Angels and Jinns are excluded because they were created from light and fire, respectively, then obviously, "everything" here could not be applied to all of the Creations of Allah Almighty. So definitely, this Noble Verse is speaking about the things that are created from dust, like us humans, and the things that exist on planet earth and other similar planets. This is further supported in the following Noble Verse and Hadith (Saying of Prophet Muhammad):

"And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind. (The Noble Quran, 15:27)"

"'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: The Angels were born out of light and the Jinns were born out of the spark of fire and Adam was born as he has been defined (in the Qur'an) for you (i. e. he is fashioned out of clay). (Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 42: The Book Pertaining to Piety and Softening of Hearts (Kitab Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqa'iq), Number 71:34)"

How can the Angels and the Jinns be made alive with water when they were created from light and fire respectively? How can water and fire, as we know them, coexist harmoniously with each others? In other words, how could the Jinns live off of our water when they were created from fire? And how could the Angels who were created from light also live off of water as we know it?

So it is clear that "everything" (كل شئ) in Noble Verse 51:49 is limited to our worldly creations; the creations that exist on earth, and any similar ones that exist elsewhere on other planets [1] [2]. Please visit:

Of everything pairs are created - Mentioned in the Glorious Quran and confirmed by Science.
If anything, this suggests that Muhammad couldn't remember whether jinn were made of fire or water and wrote both. There is nothing in either verse to suggest duality, or an equal number of water-jinn and fire-jinn -- instead, there is only contradiction.


By the way, Allah Almighty also spoke about the Expanding Universe and the end of this Universe through a Cosmic Crunch: [7 links to other Answering Christianity articles are listed.]This is incorrect.


Summary[edit]

Summary of claim: The Qur'an accurately that life requires water, which would have been unknowable to contemporary science.
Does this statement meet all criteria necessary for Qur'anic scientific foreknowledge?

  1. Is it correct? Yes. Life needs water.
  2. Is it in the Qur'an? Yes. The Qur'an states that life (or at least crops) needs water.
  3. Is it unambiguous? No. The Qur'an does not apply this to all life wherever.
  4. Was it outside of contemporary knowledge? No. Water and its significance for life have been known for millennia.
  5. Was it outside of contemporary technology? No. Dead crops are sufficient, and plentiful in Muhammad's time.

Thus, this statement is not an example of Qur'anic scientific foreknowledge.

See also[edit]

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