Qur’anic Exegesis & Analysis Via the Lens of Modern Science

[Fourteenth Day of Ramadan] {Qur’an & Fingerprints}

By: Husseini Yushau BabalWaiz

“It is a universally recognized historical fact that the unity, integrity and absolute textual uniformity of the Qur’an has been maintained since its compilation into a single volume and text. There has been always one and the same Qur’anic text in the entire world.” --- Dr. Mashar Kazi

Fingerprints and Verses of Inimitability

“I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And I swear by the self-reproaching person [a believer]. Does man [a disbeliever] think that We shall not assemble his bones? Yes, We are able to put together in perfect order the tips of his fingers.” ---Qur’an chapter 75: 1-4

Analysis: Al-Qurtubi and Zajji, Quranic commentators, in their comment and analysis on the above verses, said: “Some people claim that Allah does not resurrect the dead and is not able to reassemble the decayed bones. So Allah replied them that He is able to reassemble even the tiniest bones and that if He is able to this, He is certainly able to reassemble bigger parts of the body.”

Here, we need to call attention to the fact that the scholars then did not have modern medical equipment that could enable them to know what the contemporary anatomist discovered many centuries after.

Historical Precedence:

In 1823, the Czech anatomist, Purkinje, discovered the reality of fingerprints and found out that the very minutes lines(fingerprints) that are on the top of the fingers(fingertips) are different from one person to another. He discovered three types of lines: bow-shaped, circular and square-shaped. These are called components because they are composed of different shapes.

In 1858, the English scholar, William Herschel, alluded to the fact that fingerprints are different from one person to another. This makes the finger an exclusive characteristic of each person.

In 1892, Dr. Francis Galton established that the shape of fingerprint of each finger lives with its owner throughout his life. It never changes in spite of any emergency. One of the scientists discovered that one of the embalmed Egyptian mummies clearly preserved its fingerprints

Galton also established that no two persons have the same delicate flexures. He also confirmed that these flexures are visible on the finger of an unborn baby in the womb of its mother when the pregnancy is between 100 and 120 days.

In 1893, Scotland Yard Commissioner Edward Henry invented an easy method of classifying and collecting fingerprints. He considered that the fingerprint of each finger could be categorized as one of eight major types. He also regarded the ten fingers of both hands as a complete unit enough for determining the identity of a person. In the same year, fingerprints were admitted as strong evidence in the police departments as Scotland Yard, according to the British Encyclopedia.

Since the discovery of fingerprints, scientists have conducted studies on a large number of people from different races and no two fingerprints of different people were found to be the same.

Scientific Facts:

• Fingerprints of the fetus are formed in the fourth month of pregnancy and these fingerprints remain with it throughout its life.

• Fingerprints are registration of flexures that are formed from the cohesion of the cutis layer with the skin.

• These flexures differ from a person are never the same.

• Fingerprints have become an ideal way of recognizing the identity of people.

The noble verse above, “…We are able to put together in perfect order the tips of his fingers.”, have aroused the attentions as well as astonishment of the scholars of Tafsir because Allah swore by the Day of Resurrection and by the nature-abiding and self-reproaching soul. Allah swore by these two upon a great matter that is regarded as one of the pillars of Islamic belief, which is belief in resurrection after death and assembly of his bones in preparation for reckoning recompense.

After Allah sworn by that, He explained that resurrecting the dead and assembling their bones are not impossible for Him, for the One Who is capable of putting together the tips of man’s fingers in perfect order is also capable of assembling his bones and returning him to life.

However, the most astounding thing at the first reflection upon this oath is the ability to put together the tips of fingers. The Fingertip is a very small part of man which does necessarily indicate the ability to bring the bones back to life after they had decayed. For, the ability to create a part of something does not necessarily mean the ability to create its whole.

Once, it so happened that some criminals in the American city of Chicago believed that they could change their fingerprints. They changed the skin of the fingers and replaced them with new pieces of flesh cut out from other part of their bodies. They were disappointed to find out that the planted pieces of flesh had grown and acquired the same fingerprints that are peculiar to each of them! For ninety years since the categorization of fingerprints has been done, never were fingerprints of two persons found to be alike.

Therefore, it should not be a surprise that fingerprints are one of the Signs of Allah in which He placed secrets of His creation and can easily identify. Hence, fingerprints are the most truthful witness in this world and in the Hereafter.

In addition to this, a fingerprint shows the magnificence of the Creator in forming these delicate lines on such a narrow place that does not exceed a few square centimeters.

Furthermore, the British Encyclopedia says: “Early anatomist described the ridges of the fingers, but interest in modern fingerprint identification dates from 1880, when the British scientific journal Nature published letters by the Englishmen Henry Faulds and William James Herschel describing the uniqueness and presence of fingerprints. Their observations were experimentally verified by the English scientist, Sir Francis Galton, who suggested the first elementary system for classifying fingerprints based on grouping the pattern into arches, loops , and whorls. Galton’s system served as the basis for the finger fingerprint classification systems developed by Sir Edward R. Henry, who later became chief commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police…”

It also said: Fingerprints afford an infallible means of personal identification, because the ridge arrangement on every finger of every human being is unique and does not alter with growth or age. Fingerprints serve to reveal an individual’s true identity despite personal denial, assumed names, or changes in personal appearance resulting from age, disease, plastic surgery, or accident.”

After the Quraish pagans [the polytheist tribesmen of the Prophet] denied that mankind would be raised on the Day of Resurrection, they wondered: “However is it possible for Allah to assemble the bones of the dead?” The Lord of the Worlds replied to them that He was not only capable of assembling the bones of the dead but is also able to perfectly put together the tips of the fingers, which is a small and delicate part of his body through which man is identified and which differentiates each person from another whatever accident may occur to him. This is a result of scientific discoveries and experiments since the end of the 19th century.

Is this not a wonderful scientific miracle which shows absolute power of the Creator? He

References:

The Unchallengeable Miracles of the Qur’an, by Yusuf Al-Hajj Ahmad.

160 Miracles & Mysteries of the Qur’an, by Dr. Mazhar Kazi