Bible, the Qu'ran and Science: The Holy Scriptures Examined in the Light of Modern Knowledge Book

A Christian pointing out flaws in the bible and defending Islam? What a surprise!

Anyway. I read it 6 years ago (when I was 15 and obsessed with Islam)and reread it today. This book examines the bible and the Quran in the scientific context, and bases the book on the claim that the bible has been adulterated and contains scientific fallacies, while the Quran is in its original form and does not seem to contradict Science.

The book is categorically divided into a variety of prophecies and scientific facts that are presented as true in these two scriptures.

Now, my issue with this book is that despite it being very well-written and backed by his research, religious scriptures are all INTERPRETED. They do not have EXPLICIT VERSES that state things like "the world is made of atoms" or "evolution exists". All of it has to be INFERRED from the verses, and thus you always have to wonder how much Bucaille is reading into the scientific facts he is uncovering in the scriptures. I can't say anything about the biblical fallacies. There are countless amongst them.

Examples:
1. Astronomy in the Quran- "God is the one who created the night and the day, the sun and the moon. Each one is traveling in an orbit with its own motion."
Bucaille interpretes this as a sure sign that the Quran knew about planetary orbits through times when people thought they stood still. He claims nobody of that time could have imagined it.

However, from a simplistic point of view, the people of that time clearly saw the sun and moon moving across the skies. It could just mean that.

2. Evolution in Quran- "We made from water every living thing."
Bucaille interprets this as knowledge that life evolved from single-cell organisms in water, as per science.
However, once again, water is seen as a source of life due to its importance to the human body. And every living thing needs water.

3. Formation of the Universe and Multiple Earths
Let me give you an example involving excerpts. On page 136, the book quotes the Quran (verses 9-12 sura 41) as saying
"...Moreover he turned to heaven when it was smoke and said to it and the earth: come willingly or unwillingly! They said: we come in willing obedience.
Then He ordained them seven heavens in two periods, and He assigned to each heaven its mandate by Revelation. And we adorned the lower heaven with luminaries and provided it a guard.."

Bucaille states from this that the quran is referring to "the initially gaseous state of celestial matter", claiming "this is how the word smoke (dukan) must be interpreted".
Then he says that "The Greeks and Romans have also used the number 7 to mean an undefined idea of plurality" (there are no sources or explanation cited here) and from this, states that the number 7 means "many". He further goes on to say that this means the Quran is referring to multiple planet Earths, each of which received a revelation. ("Since 7 indicates plurality (as we have seen), it is possible to conclude that the Quranic text clearly indicates the existence of more than one single Earth" pg 141)

I don't know about you guys, but that seems to be stretching it. I'd also like to mention that Bucaille talks about his claims as possible conclusions, not as facts.

Anyway, to conclude, it's an interesting book, but it can make no definitive claims. Give it a read. But don't expect shocking divine revelations. If you approach it with an open mind you may sometimes be mildly surprised at what's presented to you.