The “God of the Gaps” fallacy and the Koran
“Sending down water from the sky” and the Rain
Casiye-5 And in the alternation of Night and Day, and the fact
that Allah sends down Sustenance from the sky, and revives therewith the
earth after its death, and in the change of the winds,- are Signs for those that
are wise.
Bakara-164 Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth;
in the alternation of the night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through
the ocean for the profit of mankind; in the water which Allah Sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in
the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the
winds, and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the
earth;- (Here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise.
Enam-99
It is He Who sendeth down water from the skies:
with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops),
out of which We produce grain, heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and
its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then
there are) gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, each similar (in kind)
yet different (in variety): when they begin to bear fruit, feast your eyes with
the fruit and the ripeness thereof. Behold! in these things there are Signs for
people who believe.
Nahl-65 And Allah sends
down water from the skies, and
gives therewith life to the earth after its death: verily in this is a Sign for
those who listen.
Taha-53-54 (In the beginning of this verse, Moses talks
to pharaoh, so don’t get confused with the word “carpet”) "He Who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread
out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down
water from the sky." With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants each
separate from the others. Eat (for yourselves) and pasture your cattle: verily,
in this are Signs for men endued with understanding.
Furkan/48-50 And He it is Who sends the winds as heralds of glad
tidings, going before His Mercy, and 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. And We have distributed the (water) amongst them, in
order that they may be mindful, but most men are averse (to aught) but (rank) ingratitude.
Rum-24 And among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way
both of fear and of hope, and He sends down water from the sky and with it gives
life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who are wise.
Araf-57 And He it is Who sends forth the winds bearing good
news before His mercy, until, when they bring up a laden cloud, We drive it to a
dead land, then We send
down water on it, then bring forth with it of fruits
of all kinds; thus shall We bring forth the dead that you may be mindful.
In order to secure the consistency of the article, I stuck to A.Yusuf Ali’s translation for the above verses about water & rain. But I changed his usage of the word “rain” in some verses to “water”. If you look at M.H. SHAKIR’s translation, he always uses the word “water” instead of “rain” in these verses. So, the usage of “rain” in Yusuf Ali’s translation is his interpretation. If you also look at the original Arabic word used in these verses, you will always find the Arabic word “ma” which means “water”, not “rain”. Below is another translation of the verse Nahl/65 by M. Pickthall. You can see that he uses the word “water” in his translation.
Nahl/65 (M. Pickthall)
Allah sendeth down water from the sky and therewith reviveth the earth after her death. Lo! herein is indeed a portent for a folk who hear.
The main theme presented to the mind as evidence/sign in these verses is the “resurrection of the earth by the water sent down from the sky”. In other words, this should be considered as an argument of design.
However, there are clear expressions in the verses such as “God is the one who sends down water from the sky” (please see: Enam/99). Why the expression of “sending down water from the sky” is used? Why the simply “pouring rain” is not used?
The reason should be the fact that rain is the last and indispensable phase of sending down water from the sky, i.e a necessity.
In order to evaluate this more precisely, we should look at what is covered by this expression... The phases included in the expression of “sending down water from the sky” are defined by God in the verse Nur/43 as follows:
Nur/43
Seest thou not that Allah makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a heap? - then wilt thou see rain issue forth from their midst. And He sends down from the sky mountain masses (of clouds) wherein is hail: He strikes therewith whom He pleases and He turns it away from whom He pleases, the vivid flash of its lightning well-nigh blinds the sight.
These phases begin with the dispatch of clouds through winds and also include joining of them, piling them up and finally pouring of the rain. In this verse, the Koran attributes to God all the phases up to the point at which the outcome becomes a necessity and when a necessity emerged, the Koran changes the manner of expression interestingly.
By using the expression, “sending down water from the sky” in all these verses, God points out all these phases. However, as we mentioned before, the evidence/sign in these verses is the resurrection of the earth by the water sent down from the sky.
Nevertheless, the importance of the usage of the expression “sending down water from the sky” is that this expression includes all the phases and a phenomenon which became a necessity is not directly attributed to God in the verse. This special expression includes not only rain but also all the phases occurred up to the rain and as we saw that in the verse (Nur/43) explaining these phases, they are attributed to God and when the outcome becomes a necessity, the manner of expression is interestingly changed.
Thus, if we review the verse Lokman/34, we see that this expression is a special one which is not used with the simple meaning of “pouring rain” in every part of the Koran:
Lokman-34
Surely Allah is He with Whom is the knowledge of the hour, and He sends down the rain and He knows what is in the wombs; and no one knows what he shall earn on the morrow; and no one knows in what land he shall die; surely Allah is Knowing, Aware,
We can clearly realize the difference. In addition, the following verses are also important from the point that they demonstrate the relationship of the expression of “sending down water from the sky” with the winds.