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From the Qur’an:
The Rain
By:
Harun Yahya
Rain
is indeed one of the most important factors for life on the earth.
Rain is a prerequisite for the permanence of life in a region.
Rain, which carries great importance for all living things
including human beings, is mentioned in various verses of the
Qur’an where substantial information is given about the formation
of rain, its proportion and effects. The fact that it was not
possible for any of this information to have been discovered at the
time of the revelation of the Qur’an shows us that the Qur’an
is the word of Allah.
Now,
let us examine the information given in the Qur’an about rain.
The
Proportion of Rain
In
the eleventh verse of Surat az-Zukhruf, rain is defined as water
sent down in due measure. The verse is as follows:
“And
He who sends down (from time to time) water from the sky in due
measure, and We raise to life therewith a land that is dead. Even
so will you be raised (from the dead)”. (Surat az-Zukhruf, 11)
This
“measure” mentioned in the verse has to do with a couple of
characteristics of rain. First of all, the amount of rain that
falls on the earth is always the same. It is estimated that in one
second, 16 million tones of water evaporates from the earth. This
number is equal to the amount of water that drops on the earth in
one second. This means that water continuously circulates in a
balanced cycle according to a “measure”. Another measure
related with rain is about its falling speed.
The minimum altitude
of rain clouds is 1200 meters. When dropped from this height, an
object having the same weight and size as a raindrop, would
continuously accelerate and fall on the ground with a speed of 558
km/h. Certainly, any object that hits the ground with that speed
would cause big damage. If rain happened to fall in the same way,
all harvested lands would be destroyed, residential areas, houses,
and cars would be damaged, people would not be able to walk around
without taking necessary precautions. What is more, these
calculations are made just for clouds of 1200 meters high, whereas
there are also rain clouds at an altitude of 10.000 meters. A
raindrop falling from such a height could normally reach a very
destructive speed.
But
this is not how it works; no matter from how high they fall,
average speed of raindrops is only 8-10 km/h when they reach the
ground. The reason for this is the special form they take. This
special form increases the friction effect of the atmosphere and
prevents acceleration when the raindrops reach a certain speed
“limit”. (Today parachutes are designed by using this
technique.)
This
is not all about the “measures” of rain. For instance, in the
atmospheric layers where it starts to rain, the temperature may
fall so low as 400 C degrees. Despite this, raindrops never turn
into ice particles. (This would certainly mean a fatal threat for
the living things on the earth).
The
reason is that the water in the atmosphere is pure water. As known,
pure water hardly freezes even in very low temperatures.
The
Formation of Rain
How
rain forms remained a great mystery for people for a long time.
Only after air radar were discovered, could it have been possible
to learn by which stages rain formed.
The
formation of rain takes place in three stages: First, the “raw
material” of rain rises up in the air. Later, clouds are formed
and lastly, raindrops appear.
These
stages are clearly defined in the Qur’an in which precise
information was given about the formation of rain centuries in
advance; “It is Allah Who sends the Winds, and they raise the
Clouds: then does He spread them in the sky as He wills, and break
them into fragments, until you see rain-drops issue from the midst
thereof: then when He has made them reach such of his servants as
He wills behold, they do rejoice!”
Now,
let us look at the three stages mentioned in the verse;
1st
Stage: “It is Allah Who sends the winds...”
Countless air bubbles formed by the foaming in the oceans
continuously burst and cause water particles to be ejected towards
the sky. These particles which are rich in salt, are then carried
away by winds and move upwards in the atmosphere. These particles
which are called aerosols form clouds by collecting around
themselves the water vapor - that again ascends from the seas - as
tiny drops, by a mechanism called “water trap”
2nd
Stage: “ ... and they raise the Clouds: then does He spread them
in the sky as He wills, and break them into fragments ....”
The clouds form from the water vapor that condenses around the salt
crystals or the dust particles in the air. Because the water drops
in these are very small (with a diameter between 0.01 and 0.02 mm),
the clouds are suspended in the air and they spread in the sky.
Thus the sky is covered with clouds.
3rd
Stage: “.... until you see rain-drops issue from the midst
thereof.”
Water particles that surround salt crystals and dust particles
thicken and form raindrops. So, the drops which become heavier than
air depart from the clouds, and start to fall on the ground as
rain.
The
conclusion to be arrived here is that; every stage in the formation
of rain is told in the verses of the Qur’an. Furthermore, these
stages are explained in the order they take place... Just like in
many other natural phenomena in the world, it is again the Qur’an
that provides the most correct explanation about this phenomenon as
well, and more, that has announced these facts to people centuries
before they were discovered by science.
Life
Given to a Dead Land
In
the Qur’an, a lot of verses call our attention to a particular
function of rain, which is “giving life to a dead land”. It is
stated in a verse as
“....
We send down pure water from the sky. That with it We may give life
to a dead land, and slake the thirst of things We have created,-
cattle and men in great numbers”. (Surat al-Furqan, 48- 49)
In
addition to furnishing the earth with water, rain also has a
fertilization effect.
Raindrops
that reach the clouds after being evaporated from the seas, contain
certain substances “that will give life” to a dead land. These
“life-giving” drops are called “surface tension drops”.
Surface tension drops form on the top level of the sea surface
which is called the micro layer by biologists. In this layer, which
is thinner than one tenth of a millimeter, there are many organic
leftovers caused from the pollution of microscopic algae and
zooplanktons. Some of these leftovers select and collect within
themselves some elements which are very rare in sea water such as
phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and some heavy metals like copper,
zinc, cobalt and lead.
These
“fertilizer” laden drops are lifted up into the sky by the
winds and after a while they drop on the ground inside the
raindrops. Seeds and plants on the earth find numerous metallic
salts and elements essential for their growth here in these
raindrops. This event is informed in another verse of the Qur’an
as follows:
“And
We send down from the sky rain chartered with blessing, and We
produce therewith gardens and grain for harvests.” (Surah Qaf, 9)
Salts
that fall with rain are small examples of some fertilizers
(calcium, magnesium, potassium etc.) used for increasing fertility.
The heavy metals found in these types of aerosols, on the other
hand, are other elements that increase fertility in the development
and production of plants.
Forests
also develop and are fed with the help of these sea-originated
aerosols. In this way, 150 million tons of fertilizer falls on the
total surface of lands every year. If there was not a natural
fertilization like this, there would be very little vegetation on
the earth, and the ecological balance would be damaged.
What
is more interesting is that this truth, which could only be
discovered by modern science, was informed by Allah in the Qur’an
centuries ago.
He is a well-known writer from Istanbul who has written numerous
books and articles on Islam, which includes the marvels of
Allah’s creation, the evolution theory, and politics. His
articles have been published, not only in Turkey, but in other
countries as well. His study aims to convey the message of the
Qur’an, and to encourage people to think on issues such as the
existence and the unity of God, and the Hereafter. Courtesy:
www.playandlearn.org
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