On Mountains and Earthquake: Answering-Islam's senseless bickering

[Heba E. Husseyn]

 


Quoting  V.16:15. "And He hath cast into the earth firm hills that it quake not with you, and streams and roads that ye may find a way." 

Most Islam haters like Answering-Islam etc. presume that the expression "firm hills that it quake not with you" refers to earthquakes, thus criticizing this verse by wrongly interpreting that the Quran says hills or mountains do not shake during an earthquake. Additionally some stupid critics also presume that this verse refers to mountains being the cause of earthquakes .. don't know how they got that idea.   Both these presumptions are completely wrong.  Verse 16:15 means no such thing.

First of all, often, not always, earthquakes create mountains.  Therefor logically, if mountains are a result of earthquakes, one may think twice before viewing mountains as the cause for earthquakes. 

But here is the real, important point which all Islamophobes have overlooked simply by reading the word "quake" in Verse 16:15 and jumping to the conclusion that it refers to the usual natural phenomenon of earthquake.  I repeat, that's not true at all.  The point here is that the Quran does not refer to regular earthquakes.  Neither does the Quran mention that mountains prevent the natural phenomenon known as "earthquakes". Rather it refers that mountains prevent the earth's SURFACE from getting unstable or simply not life-friendly. A flat surface of the Earth would be far closer to the phenomenon of instability even if there were no regular earthquakes.  So to claim that earthquakes also happen in places that have mountains (as perpetually screamed by critics) is an irrelevant argument from the Quranic viewpoint for the simple reason that the Quran does not state mountains prevent earthquakes. The fact that mountains do actually help the earth's surface is totally in conformity with modern science, quoting the evidence as follows:

"Compressional forces in continental collisions may cause the compressed region to thicken, so the upper surface is forced upward. To balance the weight of the earth surface, much of the compressed rock is forced downward, producing deep "mountain roots" [see the Book of "Earth", Press and Siever page.413]. Mountains therefore form downward as well as upward (see isostasy)."
Reference:  http://community.beliefnet. com/go/thread/view/43851/ 27096449/mountains_-_do_they_ stabilise_or_not?pg=8

Connected with the subject of mountains, let us also briefly discuss the aspect of tectonics.  Tectonic plates are pieces of the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle.  It's also called lithospheric plate.  It's a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Tectonic plates probably developed millions of years ago and they have been drifting on the earth's surface at snail's speed like slow-moving bumper cars, grouping together and then splitting.  It's a lengthy geological process.  However to make a long story shorter, mountain formations are the direct result of this dramatic ongoing collusion of plates.  Over time, Earth's plates collide, and some plates can be forced underneath others.  Research indicates that the establishment and process of plate tectonics contribute greatly in making our planet life-friendly.  Geologists are not sure of the precise problems Earth would face without tectonics. But they do know and admit that without it the Earth certainly wouldn't be the same. The Quranic reference in Verse 16:15 is a huge pointer of the necessity of mountains and automatically of the necessity of tectonics that play a vital role in the creation of mountains.

Let me also expose another point here.  Hatred towards the Quran and the growing human instinct of challenging it have reached such heights that if skeptical geologists realize that a certain geological issue conforms with any part of Quranic information, they try to withhold that information or give it twist in their attempt to show that the Quran is wrong.

An atheist geologist at Forum-website Rational Skepticism declared that "the crustal plates move and when two plates of similar density collide the result is an upthrust and a down thrust at that point, in other words the crust becomes thicker therefor."  This is how he (or she) describes the phenomenon.  What the person means is that mountain roots balance or make secure the earth's surface but refrains from directly alluding to this fact, being afraid that that would be consistent with the Quranic information in Verse 16:15.  Also when asked, if there were no mountains on Earth, and it was all flat ground above sea level, how would that affect the Earth's surface?  That person purposely ignored the query as he preferred not to admit that it would cause instability (or any synonyms you may like to use in place of that term) to the Earth's surface as that would conform with the information of Verse 16:15.  That's the sort of petty and degraded bloody-mindedness the human race has sunk into.

Please note:  Volcanoes (whether or not you call them mountains) aren't created in the same way as non-volcanic mountains and Verse 16:15 does not refer to volcanoes.

[N. Truth Seeker]

The brainlessness of this irrational atheist at Rational Skeptics website is stupendous, nay mind blowing!  While responding to another dumbo, he purposely asks the questioner what he means by "stabilizing."  His intention is to refute the Quranic information that mountains play a role in the safe keeping of the earth and making it stable.  Biased goobers like these masquerading as professionals with flaunty cynicism first need to shake, dust, wash and dry their polluted insight and open up their parochial minds before participating in any discourse.

'Quake' means to tremble or wobble or heave etc. which can be due to a variety of reasons in every context this term is used.  Speaking of the earth, that instability or fluctuation or variability or erratic reaction .... call it what you like .... can be caused due to climatic conditions, atmospheric gases or minerals and so on.  So let's find out what part mountains play in maintaining an equilibrium which can definitely called "stability" or a "stabilizing" source as well.

Briefly and comprehensively, we'll check at the Quartz website on the importance of mountains for the well-being and security of Earth, which can also be addressed as a stabilizing factor.  Below I've quoted a few excerpts from this site.  But if you get the time, visit the site and read the details that tell us the vital role mountains play in trapping minerals in the Earth's crust and consequently how that helps to stabilize the atmosphere and the planet.

"It's true - the hills make us feel alive.  If it weren’t for mountains, our planet might be an orbiting husk. That’s the finding of a new paper in the journal   Nature (paywall), which suggests mountains act as elevators for minerals deep in the earth that may play a crucial role in stabilizing the atmosphere."

Also "the forces that churn the earth’s crust into jagged peaks also help our climate stay relatively stable in between catastrophes—such as meteor impacts, solar storms, and industrial revolutions."

Furthermore, experts admit "that the methodology isn’t perfect. Extrapolating data from a single place to an entire planet and an incredible timespan is something of a necessity, because the earth’s chemistry is not something you can easily measure in laboratory-sized chunks."  That's a plain admission that scientific studies (in this case geology) cannot ever be foolproof.  All such research can only compile data and study them to draw possible conclusions.  Some of those possibilities might be the actual truth, some maybe close to the truth, some may contain only a shred of truth and some may be totally wrong.  The degree of accuracy might never be proven for a long time or in many cases never at all.  Hence, we as believers say, Allah knows best.  But the arrogance of disbelievers distracts them from the task of fact-finding to obdurate arguments & disputes often culminating as a shitstorm only for the sake of challenging with little concern for the precision or correctness of the substance in focus.
 

Geologists are not sure of the precise problems Earth would face without tectonics. But they do know and admit that without it the Earth certainly wouldn't be the same. The Quranic reference in Verse 16:15 is a huge pointer of the necessity of mountains and automatically of the necessity of tectonics that play a vital role in the creation of mountains.

Very vital point and thoroughly perceived.

Hatred towards the Quran and the growing human instinct of challenging it have reached such heights that if skeptical geologists realize that a certain geological issue conforms with any part of Quranic information, they try to withhold that information or give it twist in their attempt to show that the Quran is wrong.

You've caught on to their mischief very intelligently Sister.  This is exactly what's happening and getting increasingly widespread among this lot.  In the process they are ruining science.  Even if they intentionally have to tender an incorrect scientific information, they will do it, if that helps them to refute the truth contained the Noble Quran.  In fact these croaking toads, frogs and polliwogs have come to such a stage that whenever any scientific issue is under discussion and that aspect is also within the Quran, their focus shifts from that particular scientific topic.  Subsequently their discussion turns into a debate with the goal of simply constructing an eyewash using bombastic technical terms for the purpose of contradicting the Quranic information and looking victorious.  May the the filth of their vile ego land them to Hellfire forever.  Ameen.


And again for the information of our readers, the Noble Quran has given us all such spectacular contents on spot-on scientific facts in the 7th century.  Not just that, but since the Quran delivered what we would today call 'modern data or statistics' more than 1400 years ago, Allah Almighty has chosen the kind of terms and the style of expression that would be easy for communities in that era and those that followed immediately to grasp.  This is another point which disbelieving dolts overlook.

Sister Heba, many thanks for your brilliant work.

[Zainab_M]

As-salaam Alaikum.  Pleasure reading this excellent thread.  Many thanks Sister and Brother.   Hence, as we see for oursleves, in the Quartz website (which is a non-Muslim source) professionals have actually mentioned that mountains do stabilize the Earth, something which that atheist at Rational Skeptics (masquerading as a geologist) was trying to ridicule in a nasty and subtle manner.

The word "tamida" as in Verse 16:15 where Allah Almighty says that He has cast in the Earth firm mountains lest it should shake (or quake) with you refers generally to the importance of the mountains in maintaining the equilibrium of the Earth.  Yes, equilibrium is the precise term for it.  It doesn't simply mean trembling and rattling as the parochial readers dash to assume. It needs to be taken in a much wider context which should be easy for us to comprehend today as we know through various geological information that the absence of mountains could have an array of negative impact on the globe.   The word "shake" or "quake" in the Quran includes the entire set of repercussions if there were no mountains.  To simplify a complicated aspect for the people of the 7th century the Quran mentions it briefly as we read it in Verse 16:15.  If an educated and non-partisan person reads this Verse today in the 21st century, it will open up a chain of information to them emanating from the accuracy of that single Verse.  It's only the bloody-minded and acrimonious ones fated to dwell in hostility against the Truth who will seek ways & means to thwart the wealth of information contained in the various Quranic Verses.

What might have been the precise downside (or set of downsides) in an Earth without mountains can only be known to Allah.  Scientists and observers can speculate on the basis of their studies but their research & reviews cannot be taken as the final answers.  After all, the world is not without mountains as ordained by Allah and thus no human can authoritatively predict what the exact scenario would have been in that case. But it's surely known that the significance would have been negative which tallies one hundred percent with the concept conveyed in Verse 16:15.  The word "quake" or "shake" carries an allegorical significance as we know the downside would be several, including trembling of the earth's surface about which only Allah would know the precise reaction.

It's unfortunate that driven by hate, atheists and other disbelievers carry a very wrong interpretation of education & knowledge where they intentionally look at Quranic information through a narrow prism, misguiding others via their already misguided minds.  They firstly misunderstand the term "quake" thinking it to be the usual phenomenon of earthquake; then they ignorantly claim that the Quran says there are no earthquakes in mountainous regions.  When these misunderstandings are pointed out to them, they jump on to misinterpreting "quake" in the literal sense of the term.  Viciously crazy minds!

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Wa'salam.  I should say thanks to you folks.  Allah bless you, br. TS and sister Zeynab.  You additional points compliment by original post tremendously and make it far more comprehensive. 

May the wrath of Allah be on disbelievers.  Their guile is much too destructive to ever qualify for guidance nor forgiveness.

[Ruhi_Rose]

A resounding thumbs-up to that for all my colleagues.  It's what I call being fearlessly upfront - a strategy that brings out the best of logic.  Baraka Allahu fika.