Question Summary:
What is the truth regarding the merging of the oceans as in the Qur’an? Question Detail:
Assalamualaykum. i want to ask the Imams about the meeting between the two rivers as claimed in the Quran. "He has let free the two seas meeting to gather. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress." (Qur'an 55:19-20)." i wanted to know the truth about this phenomena. some atheists asked me about this. i wish for your help. and can you explain to me scientifically? Thank You.. may Allah bless you.
Answer :
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu `alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The phenomenon regarding the merging of the two oceans is stated in the Qura’an.
Allah (Subhanahu Wa Taa’la) says:
وهو اللذى مرج البحرين هذا عذب فرات و هذا ملح اجاج و جعل بينهما برزخا و حجرا محجورا
“And He who merged together the flow of the two great waters: this one sweet, fresh to the taste; and that one salty, acrid. Yet He placed between them a seamless divide, a barrier that bars their intermingling.” (Surah Furqaan, 25/53)
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says:
مرج البحرين يلتقيان بينهما برزخ لا يبغيان
“He has released the two oceans which meet together. Between them is a barrier which they never transgress” (Surah Al- Rahmaan, 19/55)
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says:
و جعل بين البحرين حاجزا
“And He has placed a barrier between the two oceans” (Surah Al-Naml, 27/61)
These Aayaat(verses) are a clear manifestation and exposition of Allah(Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)’s Qudrat(power).
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has merged the two oceans of flowing water mentioned in the Qura’an, yet they still remain distinguished with their own unique characteristics without being mixed with each other.
If water is poured into a container already half filled with water, definitely it will be intermixed and undistinguishable from the other water. Whereas, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has merged two huge oceans containing millions of litres of water, yet, out of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)’s sheer Qudrat(power), they do not intermix and become undistinguishable from each other. This is surely a sign of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)’s greatness which no superpower of the world can prevent or stop.
The characteristics of sweet/palatable water are: warmness, higher salinity and less density than salty water. The characteristics of salty/bitter water are: coldness, lesser salinity and higher density than sweet water.
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)’s message behind this manifestation of exaltedness and power is to show Insaan(Mankind) that he has no reason to disobey Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) as he is the ultimate supreme power of the universe.
Modern Science has discovered in the recent past, that in the places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity and density.
For example, Mediterranean Sea water is warm, saline and less dense, compared to Atlantic Ocean water. When the Mediterranean Sea water enters the Atlantic Ocean over the Gibraltar Sill, it moves several hundred kilometres into the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of about 1000 metres with its own unique warm, saline and less dense characteristics.
Scientists have provided various diagrams proving this phenomenon from a scientific point of view, Hereunder are a few diagrams clearly expressing the unique merging of the oceans as mentioned in the Qura’an:
The above diagram shows the Mediterranean Sea water as it enters with that of the Atlantic Ocean over the Gibraltar Sill with its own unique characteristics.
The shallow Camarinal Sill of the Strait of Gibraltar, which forms the shallowest point within the strait, acts to limit mixing between the cold, less saline Atlantic water and the warm Mediterranean waters. The Camarinal Sill is located at the far western end of the strait.
In terms of oceanography, a sill refers to: “A ridge, above the average bottom level in a region, which separates one basin from another, or in the case of a fjord, separates the landward basin from the sea outside.”
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a sill means: “an underwater ridge or rock ledge extending across the bed of a body of water.”
The above diagram indicates the merging of two oceans in which the colors of both oceans differ yet they are merged into each other.
The above diagram shows the merging of an estuary which consists of fresh/palatable water with that of an ocean which consists of salty water. The estuary is separated from the ocean with a unique zone of partition described as a “pynocline zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers”. This zone of separation has a different salinity from the water and salt water as indicated in the diagram.
The above information has been recently discovered by oceanographers using the most advanced technology and equipment to measure temperature, salinity, density, oxygen dissolubility, e.t.c.
As Muslims, we have firm conviction in the Aayaat(verses) of the Qura’an. When scientists uncover and unearth certain phenomenon mentioned in the Qura’an, it only serves as a source of strengthening our Eemaan.
When we come across the realities of such phenomenon, we say: “Subhaanallah”, which means: “Glory be to Allah”.
And Allah knows best.
Ismail Desai,
Durban, South Africa
Student Darul Iftaa
Faculty of speciality in Tafseer and Qur’anic sciences
(Takhassuss Fil Tafseer)
Checked and Approved
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
daruliftaa.net
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