BARRIER BETWEEN SWEET AND SALT WATERS
Consider the following Qur’anic verses:
“He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, Meeting together:
Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress.”
[Al-Qur’an 55:19-20]
In
the Arabic text the word barzakh means a barrier or a partition.
This barrier is not a physical partition. The Arabic word maraja
literally means ‘they both meet and mix with each other’. Early
commentators of the Qur’an were unable to explain the two opposite
meanings for the two bodies of water, i.e. they meet and mix, and at the
same time, there is a barrier between them.
Modern Science has discovered 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.
1
Oceanologists are now in a better position to explain this verse. There
is a slanted unseen water barrier between the two seas through which
water from one sea passes to the other.
But when the water from one sea enters the other sea, it loses its
distinctive characteristic and becomes homogenized with the other water.
In a way this barrier serves as a transitional homogenizing area for the
two waters. This scientific phenomenon mentioned in the Qur’an was also
confirmed by Dr. William Hay who is a well-known marine scientist and
Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, U.S.A.
The Qur’an mentions this phenomenon also in the following verse:
“And made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing water?”
[Al-Qur’an 27:61]
This phenomenon occurs in several places, including the divider between
the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean at Gibralter. But when the
Qur’an speaks about the divider between fresh and salt water, it
mentions the existence of “a forbidding partition” with the barrier.
“It is He Who has Let free the two bodies Of flowing water: One
palatable and sweet, And the other salty and bitter; Yet has He Made a
barrier between them, And a partition that is forbidden To be passed.”
[Al-Qur’an 25:53]
Modern science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and
saltwater meet, the situation is somewhat different from that found in
places where two seas meet. It has been discovered that what
distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuaries is a “pycnocline
zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers.”
2
This partition (zone of separation) has salinity different from both the
fresh water and the salt water.
3
This phenomenon occurs in several places, including Egypt, where the
river Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
DARKNESS IN THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN
Prof.
Durga Rao is an expert in the field of Marine Geology and was a
professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. He was asked to
comment on the following verse:
“Or (the Unbelievers’ state) Is like the depths of darkness in a vast
deep ocean, Overwhelmed with billow Topped by billow, Topped by (dark)
clouds: Depths of darkness, one above another: if a man Stretches out
his hand, He can hardly see it! For any to whom Allah gives not light,
there is no light!”
[Al-Qur’an 24:40]
Prof. Rao said that scientists have only now been able to confirm, with
the help of modern equipment that there is darkness in the depths of the
ocean. Humans are unable to dive unaided underwater for more than 20 to
30 meters, and cannot survive in the deep oceanic regions at a depth of
more than 200 meters. This verse does not refer to all seas because not
every sea can be described as having accumulated darkness layered one
over another. It refers especially to a deep sea or Deep Ocean, as the
Qur’an says, “Darkness in a vast deep ocean”. This layered darkness in a
deep ocean is the result of two causes:
A light ray is composed of seven colors. These seven colors are Violet,
Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red (VIBGYOR). The light ray
undergoes refraction when it hits water. The upper 10 to 15 meters of
water absorb the red color. Therefore if a diver is 25 meters under
water and gets wounded, he would not be able to see the red color of his
blood, because the red color does not reach this depth. Similarly orange
rays are absorbed at 30 to 50 meters, yellow at 50 to 100 meters, green
at 100 to 200 meters, and finally, blue beyond 200 meters and violet and
indigo above 200 meters. Due to successive disappearance of color, one
layer after another, the ocean progressively becomes darker, i.e.
darkness takes place in layers of light. Below a depth of 1000 meters
there is complete darkness.
4
The sun’s rays are absorbed by clouds, which in turn scatter light rays
thus causing a layer of darkness under the clouds. This is the first
layer of darkness.
When light rays reach the surface of the ocean they are reflected by the
wave surface giving it a shiny appearance. Therefore it is the waves
which reflect light and cause darkness. The un-reflected light
penetrates into the depths of the ocean. Therefore the ocean has two
parts. The surface characterized by light and warmth and the depth
characterized by darkness. The surface is further separated from the
deep part of the ocean by waves. The internal waves cover the deep
waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a higher density
than the waters above them. The darkness begins below the internal
waves. Even the fish in the depths of the ocean cannot see; their only
source of light is from their own bodies.
The Qur’an rightly mentions:
“Darkness in a vast deep ocean overwhelmed with waves topped by waves”.
1A
light ray is composed of seven colors. These seven colors are Violet,
Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red (VIBGYOR). The light ray
undergoes refraction when it hits water. The upper 10 to 15 meters of
water absorb the red color. Therefore if a diver is 25 meters under
water and gets wounded, he would not be able to see the red color of his
blood, because the red color does not reach this depth. Similarly orange
rays are absorbed at 30 to 50 meters, yellow at 50 to 100 meters, green
at 100 to 200 meters, and finally, blue beyond 200 meters and violet and
indigo above 200 meters. Due to successive disappearance of color, one
layer after another, the ocean progressively becomes darker, i.e.
darkness takes place in layers of light. Below a depth of 1000 meters
there is complete darkness.
4
2.
The sun’s rays are absorbed by clouds, which in turn scatter light rays
thus causing a layer of darkness under the clouds. This is the first
layer of darkness. When light rays reach the surface of the ocean they
are reflected by the wave surface giving it a shiny appearance.
Therefore it is the waves which reflect light and cause darkness. The
un-reflected light penetrates into the depths of the ocean. Therefore
the ocean has two parts. The surface characterized by light and warmth
and the depth characterized by darkness. The surface is further
separated from the deep part of the ocean by waves. The internal waves
cover the deep waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a
higher density than the waters above them. The darkness begins below the
internal waves. Even the fish in the depths of the ocean cannot see;
their only source of light is from their own bodies.
In other words, above these waves there are more types of waves,
i.e. those found on the surface of the ocean. The Qur’anic verse
continues, “Topped by (dark) clouds; depths of darkness, one above
another.”
These clouds as explained are barriers one over the other that further
cause darkness by absorption of colors at different levels.
Prof. Durga Rao concluded by saying, “1400 years ago a normal
human being could not explain this phenomenon in so much detail. Thus
the information must have come from a supernatural source”.
1
Principles of Oceanography, Davis, pp. 92-93.
2
Oceanography, Gross, p. 242. Also see Introductory
Oceanography, Thurman, pp. 300-301.
3
Oceanography, Gross, p. 244 and Introductory Oceanography,
Thurman, pp.
300-301.
4
Oceans, Elder and Pernetta, p. 27.