Interpretive Innovations

Interpretive Innovations

Quranic Developments and New Theories of Natural Sciences: Rethinking Interpretive Paradigms and Scientific Adaptations

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hadi Ensaf 1
Zahra Ghasemnejad 2
1 MA Student in Qur’anic and Hadith Sciences, Department of Qur’anic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Theology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Qur’anic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Theology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
10.22034/iij.2026.2072420.1049
Abstract
The longstanding tension between religious texts and scientific discoveries, particularly in the natural sciences, has consistently posed a major challenge to developing a comprehensive understanding of reality. This article aims to offer a renewed assessment of Qur’anic interpretive methodologies by proposing a conceptual framework for explaining the compatibilities between Qur’anic verses concerning creation and natural phenomena and recent scientific developments. Such an effort seeks to reduce longstanding misunderstandings and to strengthen intellectual dialogue between two of the most significant domains of human knowledge. The study adopts an integrated approach that combines qualitative content analysis of Qur’anic verses related to cosmological formation with a comparative examination of leading theories in physics, biology, and cosmology, in order to identify points of convergence and divergence. This approach attempts to move beyond the superficial debates of strict concordism or rigid conflict and instead pursue a deeper understanding of the relationship between religion and science. From this perspective, the paradigms governing this relationship can be reconsidered and redefined. The findings indicate that many Qur’anic references to natural phenomena are not only compatible with contemporary scientific theories but, in some cases, appear to anticipate insights that have only recently emerged through advances in observational instruments and empirical research. These results highlight the enduring depth of what is often described as the Qur’an’s scientific miraculousness across historical periods. Accordingly, the Qur’an may be approached not only as a religious text but also as a source of intellectual inspiration that can guide scientific inquiry. This compatibility suggests a form of structural harmony between Qur’anic and scientific accounts of reality that may contribute to the integration of human knowledge. The study ultimately supports the view that religion and science can function as complementary paths in the pursuit of truth, both pointing toward a single origin of existence, and that their convergence can foster a more comprehensive understanding of the created world and humanity’s place within it.
Keywords
Qur&rsquo
anic cosmology
comparative epistemology
dynamic hermeneutics
critical realism
structural homogeneit
-  قرآن کریم
1.امام غزالی، ابوحامد محمد. (۱۳۸۸). احیاء علوم الدین. ترجمه: مؤیدالدین محمد خوارزمی، جلد ۱. تهران: انتشارات علمی و فرهنگی.
2. بوزانی، م. (۱۳۹۷). فلسفه علم و مبانی معرفت دینی. قم: انتشارات پژوهشگاه حوزه و دانشگاه.
3. بهسکار، ر. (۱۳۸۶). واقع‌گرایی انتقادی و علوم انسانی. ترجمه: ح. پایا، تهران: انتشارات پژوهشگاه فرهنگ و هنر اسلامی.
4. پالمر، ف. (۱۳۹۲). قرآن و علم: بازنگری در یک رابطه. ترجمه: م. احمدی، مشهد: بنیاد پژوهش‌های اسلامی آستان قدس رضوی.
5. جرشاسبی، س. (۱۳۹۸). معارف قرآنی و علوم جدید: رهیافت‌های نوین. تهران: انتشارات سمت.
6. رضایی اصفهانی، م.ع. (۱۳۹۰). پژوهشی در اعجاز علمی قرآن. قم: انتشارات پژوهشگاه علوم و فرهنگ اسلامی.
7. زمخشری، م. (۱۴۰۷ق). الکشاف عن حقائق غوامض التنزیل وعیون الأقاویل فی وجوه التأویل. جلد ۴. بیروت: دار الکتاب العربی.
8. شایگان، د. (۱۳۷۵). آسیای در برابر غرب. تهران: انتشارات امیرکبیر.
9. شریعتی، ع. (۱۳۸۲). انسان و اسلام. تهران: انتشارات چاپخش.
10. طبرسی، ف.ب.ح. (۱۴۱۵ق). مجمع البیان فی تفسیر القرآن. جلد ۷. بیروت: دار المرتضی.
11. طباطبایی، س.م.ح. (۱۳۷۴). المیزان فی تفسیر القرآن. جلد ۱۴ و ۱۵. قم: انتشارات جامعه مدرسین حوزه علمیه قم.
12. قرشی، س.ع.ا. (۱۳۹۵). تفسیر احسن الحدیث. جلد ۴. تهران: بنیاد بعثت.
13. گادامر، ه.گ. (۱۳۸۵). حقیقت و روش: مبانی هرمنوتیک فلسفی. ترجمه: م. فولادوند، تهران: انتشارات علمی و فرهنگی.
14. گیلانی، ع. (۲۰۱۸). قرآن و علم: بررسی تطبیقی. بیروت: دارالکتب العلمیة.
15. هایدگر، م. (۱۳۸۶). هستی و زمان. ترجمه: س. عبدالکریمی، تهران: انتشارات هرمس.
16. نصر، س.ح. (۱۳۸۷). معارف اسلامی در جهان معاصر. تهران: دفتر نشر فرهنگ اسلامی.
17. نصر، س.ح. (۱۳۹۲). دین و نظام طبیعت: مقالات در باب علم اسلامی و حکمت الهی. ترجمه: م. فانی، تهران: انتشارات حکمت.
18. Al-Ghazali. (2011). The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-Falasifa). Translated by M.E. Marmura, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press.
19. Bhaskar, R. (1997). A Realist Theory of Science. London: Verso. (pp. 15-18)
20. Copernicus, N. (1995). On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. Translated by C.G. Wallis. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. (pp. 13-15)
 21.Davies, P. (2006). The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life?. London: Penguin Books.
22.Gadamer, H.G. (2004). Truth and Method. Translated by J. Weinsheimer and D.G. Marshall. 2nd rev. ed. New York: Continuum. (pp. 300-302)
23.Galilei, G. (1967). Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican. Translated by S. Drake. Berkeley: University of California Press. (pp. 58-60)
24.Greene, B. (2004). The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. (pp. 63-65)
25. Guessoum, N. (2011). Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science. London: I.B. Tauris. (pp. 110-112)
26. Hawking, S.W., & Ellis, G.F.R. (1973). The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (pp. 13-15)
27. Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time. Translated by J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, New York: Harper & Row.
28. Hoyle, F., Bondi, H., & Gold, T. (1948). The Steady-State Theory of the Expanding Universe. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 108(3), 252-258.
29. Hubble, E. (1929). A Relation between Distance and Radial Velocity among Extra-Galactic Nebulae. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 15(3), 168-173.
30. Iqbal, M. (2013). The Quran and the Sciences: An Interpretive Approach. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust. (pp. 180-182)
31. Kuhn, T.S. (1996). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (pp. 111-113, 150-152)
32. Moore, K.L. (1987). A Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. 4th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company. (pp. 78-80)
33. Moore, K.L., & Persaud, T.V.N. (2013). The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. 9th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier. (pp. 11-13)
34. Nasr, S.H. (1993). An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. Albany: State University of New York Press.
35. Needham, J. (1959). A History of Embryology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (pp. 28-30)
36. Newton, I. (1999). The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. Translated by I.B. Cohen & A. Whitman. Berkeley: University of California Press. (pp. 408-410)
37. Penzias, A.A., & Wilson, R.W. (1965). A Measurement of Excess Antenna Temperature at 4080 Mc/s. The Astrophysical Journal, 142, 419-421.
38. Peterson, D.A. (2017). Science and Religion: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University. Press. 
39. Ptolemy. (1998). Ptolemy's Almagest. Translated by G.J. Toomer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (pp. 25-27)
Sardar, Z. (2008). Science in Islam: An Introduction. London: Icon Books.40
41. Weinberg, S. (1972). Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity. New York: John Wiley & Sons. (pp. 45-47)
42. Zaid, A. (2016). The Quranic Concept of Nature: An Exploration. Cairo: Dar al-Shorouk.
Interpretive Innovations

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 May 2026