A review of Orientalist's opinion on contradiction of the Quran with natural sciences

Some Orientalists have assumed that there is contradiction between the Quran and the natural sciences. Thus, they have posed many doubts particularly in regard with the so-called contradictions of the Quran with cosmos and astronomy. In the Leiden Encyclopedia of the Quran, the Orientalists such as Angelika Neuwirth, Paul Konitech, Ahmad Dallal and Maher Jarrar compare the Quranic cosmic version with Ptolemaic system about the seven heavens, God’s creation of the heavens and the earth in six days, the course movements of the sun, the earth and the shooting stars; and concluded that the Quranic points are not in harmony with the new cosmic theories. This article after studying the Orientalists’ views proves that there is no contradiction between the Quran and natural sciences; for most of these contradictions trace back to the theories of the Muslim intellectuals rather than contradiction between the Quran and science. However, in some cases there are apparent contradictions because they propounded contradictions between the Quran and the unsubstantiated hypotheses. The empirical sciences do not give us a certain knowledge that should completely represent the facts in the ground, nor do these sciences have such a claim. Empirical sciences are erroneous. Thus it would berational to give priority to the certain argument of the Quran rather than the probable reasoning of the empirical sciences [scientific theories]. It is to be kept in mind that the Quranic cosmic model is in explicit contradiction with most of the propositions cited in the Aristotelian- Ptolemaic system.