14. THE MERGING OF TWO SEAS AND THE KINDS OF
DARKNESS IN DEEP SEAS
It is amazing that some Qur’ānic
verses dealing with natural phenomena become understood more extensively
through the discovery of science. Some examples are as follows:
A.
The Merging of two Seas.
Allah says in the
Qur’ān:
مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ
. بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لَا يَبْغِيَانِ (الرحمن:19-20)
He has let loose the two seas (the salt and fresh water)
meeting
together. Between them is a barrier which
none of
them can transgress. (Q. 55:19-20)
This verse informs us that there are two seas which do not
mingle with each other despite all storms and huge waves. Science confirms this
statement as explained by the famous for underwater research
the French marine scientist Captain Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) who had led
hundreds of marine expeditions, as follows:
We were investigating of some researcher's
judgments
that put
forth that there were some barriers that separated different masses of the seas
from each other. As a result of various studies, we saw that the Mediterranean
Sea has a peculiar natural level of salinity and density. At the same time, it
has specific life forms. Then, we analyzed the mass of water
in the
Atlantic Ocean and saw that it was completely different than the Mediterranean
Sea. However, these two seas, which merge at the strait of Gibraltar, were
supposed to be equal
or at least near to equal in terms of salinity,
density and life forms that they had. However, these two seas have different
structures even in places where they converge closely. Upon
our
investigations, we came across with an event that
amazed us. or, there was a great water curtain
at the
merging point that did not allow these two seas
to mix up.
The same
kind water barrier was founded by German
scientists at Bab el-Mandeb, where waters of
Gulf of Aden
and Red
sea converge in 1962. In our later investigations,
we
witnessed the existence of the same kind of barrier
in all
merging points of sea that have
different characteristics."
The existence of barrier between two seas discovered by
Jacques Cousteau and German scientist has been mentioned by the Qur’ān over
fourteen centuries ago mentioned above. When two different seas meet, there is
a barrier between them which divides the two seas so that each sea has its own
temperature, salinity, and density. In the above example, when Mediterranean
sea water which is warm (11.5o C), saline (over 3.65 %), and less
dense, enters Atlantic ocean water which is less warm (10o C),
saline (less than 10 %) through Gibraltar sill (flat stone at its base), it
moves several hundred kilometers into the Atlantic at a depth of about 1000
meters with its own warmth (11.5o C), saline (over 3.65%), and less
dense characteristics. Although there are large waves, strong currents and
tides in these seas they cannot transgress this barrier.
Scientist found that when the tiny
particles of water of the Red Sea reach an imaginary line at Bab al-Mandeb,
they return to the Red Sea. Similarly, when the tiny particles of the Indian
Ocean in their way to the Red Sea upon reaching this imaginary barrier, they
run slowly downward and return to the Indian Ocean. The barrier is that the
Indian Ocean does not overflow the Red Sea, and the Red Sea does not mix with
the Indian Ocean. Each of them has its own permanent density, warmth, and
salinity, neither increases nor decreases.
But when the Qur’ān speaks about the
division between fresh and salt water, it mentions the existence of “a
forbidding partition” with the barrier. Allah
said in the Qur’ān:
وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَرَجَ
الْبَحْرَيْنِ هَذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ وَهَذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ
وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا
وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (الفرقان:(53
And it is He Who has let free the two seas
(kinds of
water), this is palatable and sweet, and that
is salt and
bitter; and He has set a barrier and a complete
partition between them [i.e. , a partition that
is forbidden to be passed].. (Q. 25:53)
This kind of barrier is seen at bays and deltas where the
fresh water rivers flow into the seas. The term بَحْر (baḥr)
could also mean ‘river’ instead of ‘sea’, so that we can also sayبَحْرُ
الْنِيْل (Baḥr al-Nīl) besides نَهْرُ الْنِيْل (Nahr al-Nīl) meaning “the River
Nile”). The term “the two seas” in the above verse means “a river and a sea”,
as no sea has sweet water.
The waters of rivers never mix up with salty water in places where they
fall into seas. It is Allah’s blessing that He made the law of not mixing up
between these two waters, the fresh water of rivers with the salty sea water of
the seas, so that the living creatures
in them and in their environments would not be annihilated all together.
What is meant by حِجْرًا مَحْجُورً (a partition that is forbidden to be passed) in the above verse
is the estuary (the river mouth) where the partition (zone of separation)
between the water of the river and the water of the sea. The salinity of the
river’s water is 0%, and at the first zone of separation it becomes 1%, at the
second zone it becomes 2%, and at the third and last zone it becomes 3%. The
salinity of the sea water is 3.3%. They all do not mix. Therefore, the
freshness of the water of the river is protected with three layers of zone of
separation, first with 1% saline water, then 2% of saline water, then 3% of
saline water, and the 3.3% of the saline water
of the sea would not mix with this 3% saline water which is the third layer
of zone of separation.
In
another verse Allah says:
وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْبَحْرَانِ
هَذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ سَائِغٌ شَرَابُهُ وَهَذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ وَمِنْ
كُلٍّ تَأْكُلُونَ لَحْمًا
طَرِيًّا وَتَسْتَخْرِجُونَ حِلْيَةً تَلْبَسُونَهَا... (فاطر:12)
And the two seas
(kinds of water) are not alike, this is
palatable, sweet and
pleasant to drink, and that is salt
and bitter. And from
them both you eat fresh tender
meat (fish), and derive the ornaments
that you wear… (Q. 35:12)
Here again, “the two seas” meant in the
above verse, is “one river and one sea”, as there is no sea containing water palatable,
sweet and pleasant to drink which is the water of the river. What are
understood by the Arabs with these “two seas” are the Euphrates River and the
Persian Gulf. Their water meets at the shore of Basrah, and the country located
at the Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf is called Bilād l-Baḥrayn, i.e.
“The country belonging to (or located between) the two seas”, and should not confused with the island of
Bahrayn.
The verse states that from the river
and the sea fresh fish as well as ornaments were produced. When this verse was
revealed 14 centuries ago, pearls were made exclusively from the sea, but
nowadays they are also being produced in sweet water of the river started by
the Japanese, fulfilling this verse’s prediction.
B. The Kinds of Darkness in Deep Seas
Allah said
that the deeds of those who disbelieve are like a mirage in a desert. Then He
said that they are in total darkness, darkness upon darkness, a follows:
أَوْ كَظُلُمَاتٍ فِي بَحْرٍ لُجِّيٍّ يَغْشَاهُ
مَوْجٌ مِنْ فَوْقِهِ مَوْجٌ مِنْ فَوْقِهِ سَحَابٌ
ظُلُمَاتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَا
أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَاهَا وَمَنْ لَمْ يَجْعَلِ
اللَّهُ لَهُ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ نُورٍ (النور:40)
Or
(the
state of disbeliever) is like the darkness in
a vast deep sea, overwhelmed with waves topped by
waves, topped by dark clouds, (layers of) darkness
upon
darkness: if a man stretches out his
hand, he
can hardly
see it! And he for whom Allah has not
appointed
light, for him there is no light (Q. 24:40)
Modern scholars try to understand the expression of
darkness upon darkness meant by this verse. They say that the
sea is divided into two main
parts: (a) external (outer) sea where the sun’s energy and rays pass through,
and (b) deep sea where the sun’s energy and rays disappear. The deep sea and
the external sea are different in their heat, density, pressure, the degree of
sun’s rays, as well as the created things living in each of them where they are
separated by internal wave.
The
existence of internal waves in deep seas was discovered in 1904. They are
between tens and hundreds kilometres long, and between ten and one hundred
metres high. The deeper the sea the darker it becomes, starting approximately
at 200 metres deep, until it becomes total dark at 1000 metres deep.
The gloomy darkness which increases from 500 metres to 1000 metres deep
existing in the depth of the sees as the result of darkness one on the top of
the other. The sunlight consists of seven colours which can be seen: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and
violet, each has its own length of wave. For example, the red light which has
the shortest wave penetrates until approximately 20 meter’s deep, and after that
red colour would not be seen. If a diver is injured at 25 meters deep, he will
see black blood instead of red, because of the absence of red colour. The
orange light penetrates at the deep of approximately 30 metres and creates
orange colour only; at the deep of approximately 50 metres yellow light
penetrates creating yellow colour only; at the deep of approximately 100 metres
green light penetrates creating green colour only; at the deep of
approximately 125 metres indigo and
violet lights penetrate creating indigo
and violet colours only; lastly, the
last light that penetrates the sea is the blue light which penetrates 200
metres from the surface of the sea. In Qur’anic expression it is ظُلُمَاتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ “darkness, one above
another”
Other kinds of darkness are obstructive as follows:
1.
Darkness caused by clouds. Clouds usually
cover the surface of deep seas due to the evaporation of the water, and
therefore obstruct to some extent the rays of the sun. This is the first
obstructive darkness.
2.
Darkness caused by leaning external waves of
the seas which reflects the rays of the sun.
3.
Darkness of internal waves covering deep
seas, starting from 70 metres to 240 metres, where millions of living creatures
are found on the surface of the deep waves.
In conclusion there are ten kinds of darkness in deep seas: seven in
deep seas, caused by seven colours which disappear one by one, and three
obstructive ones: clouds, external wave, and internal wave. This kind of
darkness took place only in deep seas. The term لُجَي means “deep” according to Qatādah, “deep
with much water” according to al-Zamakhshārī and al-Țabarī. This is the
condition of disbelievers; they live in darkness upon darkness, unless they get
light from Allah, the light of guidance.
(Civic,
28 July, 2017)
Sources:
http://www.kaheel7.com/ar/index.php/2010-02-02-20-13-13/250-2010-09-10-12-11-48
http://www.questionsonislam.com/article/seas-not-mixing-each-other
http://quran-m.com/quran/article/2574/أو-كظلمات-في-بحر-لجي-يغشاه-موج
http://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?idfrom=3859&idto=3859&bk_no=61&ID=3915
https://www.islam-guide.com/ch1-1-e.htm
