2. IMAM ALI (A.S) AND GEOLOGY

It is through the strength of God’s greatness and His subtle power of innovation that He made the solid dry earth out of the water of the fathomless, compact and dashing ocean. Then He made from the ocean skies (samawat) and separated them into seven layers (seven layers of atmosphere) after they have been joined together. Nahjulbalagha: sermon, 209

The above paragraph is taken from Nahjulbalagha which was compiled in 1000 A.D (422 A.H) by Sharif Razi (student of Sheikh Mufeed). It is still regarded as a masterpiece of Arabic language and is taught as a course of rhetoric in Islamic universities. Since its compilation both the Sunni and the Shia scholars have been writing commentaries on it, and in fact, one of the best (popular) commentary on Nahjulbalagha is by a Sunni scholar namedIbne-Abil-Hadeed and is called sharah-Nahjulbalgha.

Coming back to the above mentioned paragraph, Imam Ali (a.s) says that the earth and the seven layers of it’s atmosphere were created from the oceans. It is only four decades since the establishment of the seven layer theory of the earth’s atmosphere by

21

the modern science. The seven layers of atmosphere as established are,

1. Troposphere

2. Stratosphere

3. Ozonosphere

4. Mesosphere

5. Thermosphere

6. Ionosphere

7. Exosphere

(The ORM seven layers standard atmosphere: Nicholas Devaney and Mette Owner, September, 13, 2001.)

It is also mentioned in Quran that there are seven layers to the sky above us in the following verses,

“It is He (God) who created everything on earth for you and then directed his attention up to the sky (samawat) and arranged it into seven layers. He has knowledge of all things.” Quran:2:220

In the above verse the seven skies are mentioned in the context of earth, and their formation is referred after the creation of earth, this implies that the seven skies refer to the seven layers of atmosphere. Imam Ali (a.s) too talks about the seven skies in the context of earth and further attributes their (atmosphere’s) origin to the oceans of earth.

Fig.5.Picture showing the formation of atmospheric oxygen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen from the water of ocean.

22

According to Imam Ali (a.s), the atmosphere originated from the ocean, which is a very modern concept and all the present day geologists hold the same theory which is still in the process of research. The atmosphere contains oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide which are in the highest percentage. The oxygen of atmosphere is supposed to be formed from the break down of water by the ultraviolet rays of the sun and the same is supposed to be the case with atmospheric hydrogen (The Atmosphere: Lutgens and Tarbuk). The nitrogen of the atmosphere can be attributed to the nitrates of the ocean and the carbon dioxide to it’s carbonates.

Fig.6. Picture showing the seven layers

Of the earth’s atmosphere.

Coming to the second paragraph of the same sermon (sermon.210) Imam Ali (a.s) says,

23

“He (God) also created high hills, rocks of stones and lofty mountains. He put those (mountains) in their positions and made them remain stationary. Their peaks rose into air while their roots remained in water.” Nahjulbalagha:sermon,209

In the above Para, Imam Ali (a.s) introduces the concept of mountain roots which has been discovered in 19th century while studying the phenomenon of Isostasy (state of equilibrium between earth’s crust and atmosphere). The concept of mountain roots was discovered in India by a British scientist during his study of isostasy of the Himalayan mountains (Gravity and Isostasy: John Fillmore Hayford,1917). There is nowhere mentioned in Quran, directly, that mountains have roots, but their existence can be inferred from the following verse of Quran,

“Have we not made the earth as bed and the mountains its pegs?” Quran: 78:6-7

Fig.7.Picture showing relation between earth crust and mountain root (Google: picture of mountain roots)

24

Fig.9.Mountain roots were discovered when,Gerorge Everest,the surveyor general of India found some anamoly in the data of the Himalayas.He called John Pratt to analyse the data who finally dicovered 'Isostasy' and hence, mountain roots (1850)

25

At this stage one would say that it is indeed miraculous for a man of 7th century A.D to be aware of a concept which is considered as a discovery of 19th century: Faith is always ahead of science.