Question-What CRITERIA do you use to decide whether a verse of the Quran is related to science and is aligned with modern scientific discoveries?
Answer
1-The statement is taken literally-even though a verse of the Quran may have different interpretations (literal,metaphorical,allegorical) the literal meaning of the verse is considered.
2 The Quranic statement must not be ambiguous.It is very difficult to interpret the verse in a manner other than relating to science /nature
3 There must be a consensus among reputable contemporary islamic scholars that the Quranic statement is related to science and can be understood in that particular manner.
4 The scientific fact is indisputable and can be verified. If it is not a scientific fact and only a theory then the theory is accepted among the vast majority of scientists who are world experts in their field of study.eg the big bang theory is only a theory but it is accepted by the majority of scientists and reference is made to it in the Quran
5 Quranic statements relating to science usually occur in clusters/multiple verses related to science rather than single verses.However this not a defining criteria.
An example of a Quranic verse that meets all the criteria – Quranic verse referring to the bang theory
An example of a Quranic verse that does not meet the criteria – Quranic verses referring to the String theory .
6 If reinterpretation of a verse of the Quran is done (the interpretation differs from the classical scholars because of new scientific discoveries) then it is based on the following-
– all of the above criteria (1-5)
-there is no conflict from a linguistic perspective ie the arabic word could also be translated that way
-there is a consensus among contemporary islamic scholars that the verse could be interpreted this way
-the reinterpretation of the verse is superior to the previous interpretation from a scientific perspective ie.the verse is now aligned with modern science.
An excellent example of where re-interpretation of a Quranic verse occurred that meets all of the criteria is the verse relating to the universe expanding.
The classical islamic scholars (Ibn Kathir/Qurtubi/Tabari/Suyuti)did not interpret the verse this way but the contemporary islamic scholars do.
PLEASE NOTE
It is irrelevant whether a Quranic statement relating to science was known or unknown to the arabs and non arabs of that era.(There is no documented evidence as to all that was known or unknown at that time that will be accepted by muslims and non-muslims )We do however look at when the Quranic statement was proven to be a scientific fact.
Eg. Reference is made in the Quran that plants are created in pairs 1400 years ago and it was only proven by scientists in 1694.Whether or not the arabs or non arabs believed plants were created in pairs 1400 years ago is of no consequence since there is no evidence to prove whether or not they believed plants existed in pairs or not.
Allah SWT and His Prophet SAW knows best