Page 101 - The Qur'an Leads the Way to Science

The Scientific Miracles of the Qur'an

mountains are that they have roots to support the mountains. In the case of
continental mountains, light-low density material from the mountain is
extended down into the earth as a root. In the case of oceanic mountains, there
is also light material supporting the mountain as a root... [T]he function of the
roots are to support the mountains according to the law of Archimedes. 59
Moreover, Frank Press, the former President of the U.S. National Academy
of Sciences, says in his book Earth, still used as a university textbook all over
the world, that mountains resemble stakes and are buried into the depths of
the earth. 60
In a verse, this role of the mountains is pointed out by a comparison with
"pegs":

Have We not made the earth as a bed and the mountains its pegs?
(Surat an-Naba': 6-7)

In another verse God has revealed that He has “made the mountains
firm.” (Surat an-Nazi’at: 32) The Arabic word arsaha in this verse means “has
made rooted, made fixed, hammered into the ground.” Thanks to these
features, mountains extend over and under the ground at the points where
the layers of the earth meet, and rivet those layers together. In this way, they
stabilize the earth’s crust and thus prevent it from sliding over the magma
stratum or among its own strata. In short, we can compare mountains to nails
holding pieces of wood together.
Today we know that the rocky outer stratum of the earth is riven by deep faults
and split up into plates floating on magma. Given the high speed at which the
earth rotates around its own axis, these floating plates would move around were
it not for the fixative effect of the mountains. In that event, no soil could form on
the face of the Earth, no water could be collected in the soil, no plants could grow,
and no roads or buildings could be constructed; in short, life on Earth would be
impossible. By the mercy of God, however, mountains to a large extent prevent
movement on the surface of the Earth by functioning just like nails.
This vital role of mountains, that was discovered by modern geology and
seismic research, was revealed in the Qur'an centuries ago as an example of the
supreme wisdom in God's creation. In another verse, it is again said:

It is God Who cast firmly embedded mountains on the earth
so that it would not move under you... (Surah Luqman: 10)

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