River Mouths
- Categories: Scientific Miracles of the Quran -
And it is He Who has let free the two seas (kinds of water), one
palatable and sweet, and the other salty and bitter, and He has set
a barrier and a complete partition between them.}. Allah, the
Almighty, says: {And it is He Who has let free the two seas (kinds
of water), one palatable and sweet, and the other salty and bitter,
and He has set a barrier and a complete partition between them}
[Al-Furqan:53]
{وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ
هَـٰذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ وَهَـٰذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ وَجَعَلَ
بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا وَحِجْرًا
مَّحْجُورًا﴿٥٣﴾} [الفرقان:53]
Transliteration: w huwa allathi maraja albahrain hatha athubun
furaton w hatha milhon uujaaj w jaala bainahuma barzakhan w hijiran
mahjooran
The Scientific Fact:
The first book on oceanography during the 18th century contained
very simple information.
When the British ship Challenger took its voyage all over the world
between 1872 and 1876, oceanography started to take its position
amongst other modern sciences. This was followed by many scientific
voyages that were launched to explore oceans and seas. At the end
of the 20th century, man sought more understanding of oceanography
through the use of satellites and aerial photography. After closely
surveying many points where rivers join seas, researchers
discovered that the river mouth is always a very distinguished area
having its own characteristics that are different from those of the
sea and those of the river itself.
This fact highlights the point that the sweet water of the river
does not mix with the salty water of the sea. There appears to be
some kind of barrier that separates both waters and enables each to
maintain its own qualities.
Categorizing the three areas (i.e. river, sea, and river mouth)
based on the living organisms in each, researchers discovered that
certain creatures only live in the river mouth and cannot live
outside it. By the same token, creatures of other areas cannot live
in this area of the river mouth due to its own special
characteristics.
Facets of Scientific
Inimitability:
Any gathering of water can be called a "sea" and if the water is
sweet, it is given the name "river"; and if salty, it is "sea"
or"ocean".
The water found in the river mouth areas is not included here since
it is a mixture of sweet and salty water. Therefore, we can
distinguish three kinds of waters: sweet water in rivers, salty
water in seas, and a mixture in river mouth areas. Such areas are
described as having barriers and complete partitions that halt any
flow of water between the water of the river and that of the sea.
It is also known as being the culture of certain marine creatures
that cannot live outside such areas.
The history of oceanography testifies to the fact that no accurate
information about oceans and seas existed fourteen centuries
ago.
Yet, the Ever-Glorious Qur'an gave a full accurate account of the
river mouth areas and showed the characteristics of these
distinguished areas.
The Ever-Glorious Qur'an explained that, with the non-stop movement
of the water in such areas, they formulate a barrier between the
sweet water of the river and the salty water of the sea.
This Qur'anic description was given a long time ago before the
invention of the modern technology