A New Discovery Of A Miracle In The Quran

A new discovery of a miracle in the Quran; snake walking. verse 45 in sura Alnur ( sura 24 ) : Allah has created every moving creature from water. So, some of them walk on their bellies; and some of them walk on two legs, and some of them walk on four. Allah creates what He wills. Surely, Allah is powerful over everything. Another version of the translation reads: And Allah has created every animal from water: of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He wills: for verily Allah has power over all things. The new discovery relates to the phrase "walk on their bellies". Please note that the Arabic word ‫[ يمشي‬yamshi] literally translates to the English word "walk" and not the word "creep". As the exact mechanism of snake movement on smooth surfaces was not fully understood by scientists, until new research led by Dr. Hu and carried out by researchers at Applied Mathematics Laboratory at New York University and Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech explained it fully. It was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in June 2009. The research revealed that snake scales exhibit different friction forces depending upon the direction of movement. A snake’s scales, Dr. Hu said, resemble overlapping

Venetian blinds, and tend to catch on tiny variations in the surface they lie on. This friction is greater in the forward direction than in sideways directions, as it is with wheels and ice skates. This frictional difference results in the snake’s moving forward as it undulates [The New York Times]. The researchers used different techniques to find out the mechanism of snake movement, including wrapping the snakes in a cloth like a dress. The snakes were not able to move but only wiggle.

But the most dramatic finding is when the researchers noticed that the snakes were lifting parts of their bodies as they moved. Dr. Hu described it as “dynamic weight distribution” that allowed snakes to concentrate their weight on a few points and move more quickly. Which is what we humans do when walking. This shifting of weight was noticed after using photoelastic gelatin and When polarized light is shone through it.

This lifting process can be clearly seen in the following video clip. Please note how this snake is lifting parts of its body and standing on other parts as if it has legs.

And these images clearly show the walking of a snake as it moves on sand.

Another thing that deserves a deeper thought is the use of the word "belly" as it covers most of the body .

Please take the time to view the following video clip which is educational and amusing. The concept of snake walking was not accepted by many islamic scholars, including Imam Tabari and Yusuf Ali who translated the Quran into English. Yusuf Ali wrote: "The creeping things include worms and lowly forms of animal life as well as reptiles (like snakes), centipedes, spiders, and insects. Where these have legs they are small, and the description of creeping or crawling is more applicable to them than that of walking. Fishes and sea-animals generally cannot be said to walk: their swimming is like "creeping on their bellies". Two-legged animals include birds and man. Most of the mammals walk on four legs. This includes the whole of the animal world." This refusal to accept snake walking clearly stresses the importance of this discovery, and shows the accuracy of the Quran. This leads us to the importance of revealing the miracles of the Quran and how science emphasizes the depth and detail of words used in the Quran. There should be no fear of discovering an opposing scientific theory as our beliefs are strong. It is our duty to refute and disprove any theory scientific or otherwise that does not agree with the Quranic teaching. May Allah guide us to his straight path. Mohamed Alkeilani Benghazi Libya