The Quran and the Clouds
“The water vaporizes from the oceans and the rivers form tiny clouds. The small clouds come together and the upward currents in the largest cloud increase. The upward currents closer to the center are stronger because they are protected against the effects of cooling by the outside of the cloud. These upward currents cause the cloud body to grow vertically, so the cloud is stacked. This vertical growth causes the body of the cloud to stretch in the coldest regions of the atmosphere where the drops of water and hail form and start to grow bigger and bigger. drops of water and hail become too heavy for the upward currents to support them, they start to fall from the cloud like rain, hail, etc. ” [From “The Atmosphere,” p. 269 and “Elements of Meteorology” pp. 141-142]
Now, just for the sake of the argument, let’s look at what the “Muslim scientists” used to formulate their understandings for centuries based on the revelation of the Qur’an (revealed 1400 years ago):
“When you have not seen how God makes the clouds move gently, together they together and turn them into a pile, and then you see the rain come out of it …” [Holy Quran 24:43]
Meteorologists recently learned about these details of the formation, structure and function of the cloud, using advanced equipment such as airplanes, satellites, computers, balloons and other equipment to study the wind and its direction, measure humidity and its variations and determine levels and variations atmospheric pressure.
The previous verse, after mentioning clouds and rain, the Qur’an talks about hail and lightning:
“… And He sends hail from the mountains (clouds) in the sky, and He attacks with whomever he wants, and whirls him around. The living flash of his lightning almost blinds his vision. ” [Holy Quran 24:43]
Meteorologists have found that these cumulonimbus clouds, that rain shower, reach a height of 25,000 to 30,000 feet (4.7 to 5.7 miles) like mountains, as the Qur’an says;
“… And He sends hail from the mountains (clouds) in the sky…” [Holy Quran 24:43]
Now, this verse may raise the question: Why does the verse say “your lightning” when referring to hail? This seems to indicate that hail is an important factor in the production of lightning. Looking at a book on the subject (Meteorology today), we find that it says:
“Clouds become electrified when hail falls through a region in the cloud of super-cold droplets and ice crystals. As drops of liquid collide with hail, they freeze on contact and release latent heat. This keeps the surface of the hail warmer than that of the surroundings When the hail comes into contact with an ice crystal, an important phenomenon occurs: electrons flow from the coldest object to the warmest object. Thus, hail becomes negatively charged. The same effect occurs when the super-cooled droplets came into contact with a piece of hail and small pieces of positively charged ice. These lighter, positively charged particles are then transported to the top of the cloud by upward currents. Hail, left with a negative charge, falls to the bottom of the cloud, then the bottom of the cloud becomes negatively charged. These negative charges are discharged to the ground like lightning. ” [Meteorology Today p. 437]
This lightning information was recently discovered. Until 1,600 AD, Aristotle’s ideas about meteorology were dominant in non-Muslim countries. For example, he said that the atmosphere contains two types of exhalation, wet and dry. He also said that thunder is the sound of the collision of the dry exhalation with the surrounding clouds, and the lightning is the ignition and burning of the dry exhalation with a thin, weak fire. [Works of Aristotle translated into English pp. 369 a & b]
These are some of the ideas about meteorology that were dominant at the time of the revelation of the Qur’an, four thousand and one hundred years ago.
Let’s go now, see a little more about the land. Consider the mountains and their greatness. Is it one of the massive formations that can give us a clue about the origin of creation?
