Hydrothermal Vents in the Quran

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Some Islamic apologists claim that the Quran describes hydrothermal vents.

The claim

Geysers are one type of hydrothermal vents. They gush hot water from deep underground.

Oceanographers found hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean gushing hot water at more than 400 ºC.

A vent site in the Cayman Trough named Beebe, which is the world's deepest known hydrothermal site at ~5,000 m (16,000 ft) below sea level, has shown sustained supercritical venting at 401 ºC (754 ºF) and 2.3 wt% NaCl.
Wikipedia, Hydrothermal Vent, 2018

1400 years ago people could only have seen geysers at the surface but nobody could have seen this at the bottom of the ocean.

[Quran 81.6] And if the oceans were heated.

Sujirat "سُجِّرَتْ " in Arabic means heated. Well is 400 ºC hot enough?

How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known that oceans are being heated?


The context

The verse 81:6 is obviously talking about the Day of Judgement:

81:1 When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]

81:2 And when (إذا) the stars fall, dispersing,

81:3 And when the mountains are removed

81:4 And when full-term she-camels are neglected

81:5 And when the wild beasts are gathered

81:6 And when (إذا) the seas are filled with flame

81:7 And when the souls are paired

81:8 And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked

81:9 For what sin she was killed

81:10 And when the pages are made public

81:11 And when the sky is stripped away

81:12 And when Hellfire is set ablaze

81:13 And when Paradise is brought near,

81:14 A soul will [then] know what it has brought [with it].


Quran 81:1, Sahih International

Since it is describing what will happen on the Day of Judgement in the future, it is not describing what is happening today. And since many supernatural events are predicted in the Quran for the Day of Judgement, the "heating" of the sea can be considered as one of the supernatural events. Science studies only nature.

The verse

Apologists translated the first word إذا (idhaa) as "if", but all other translations translated it as "when":

Dr. Ghali: And when (إذا) the seas will be seething,

Muhsin Khan: And when the seas shall become as blazing Fire or shall overflow;

Pickthall: And when the seas rise,

Sahih International: And when the seas are filled with flame

Yusuf Ali: When the oceans boil over with a swell;

Mufti Taqi Usmani: and when the seas will be flared up,

miracles-of-quran.com: And if the oceans were heated.


"If (إذا) the oceans were heated" then what?

The translation "when" makes much more sense, than the translation "if". The "when" means that the verse is describing the Day of Judgement. The seas will be heated when the Day of Judgement comes. But of course it wasn't fitting for apologists to admit that the verse is about future and not about current events in nature, so they rather translated it as "if" although it doesn't make sense in the context.

  • The word إذا was also used in many preceding verses, as can be seen in previous section. They were all unanimously translated as "when", not "if".

Tafsir al-Jalalayn explained the verse like this:

and when the seas are set afire read sujirat or sujjirat when they are set alight and become a mass of fire;


Tafsir al-Jalalayn on 81:6

So the tafsir talks about fire, and most translations also talk about fire and not about heating by a hydrothermal vent.

The apologists claim that the word سجرت (sujjirat) means "heated", although other translations tend to say that the seas will be burned / become fire. That translation is also supported by other verse which uses the same verb, but in a different form:

40:70 Those who deny the Book and that with which We sent Our messengers - they are going to know,

40:71 When the shackles are around their necks and the chains; they will be dragged

40:72

Muhsin Khan: In the boiling water, then they will be burned (يسجرون, yusjaroon) in the Fire.

Pickthall: Through boiling waters; then they are thrust into the Fire.

Sahih International: In boiling water; then in the Fire they will be filled [with flame].

Yusuf Ali: In the boiling fetid fluid: then in the Fire shall they be burned;


It makes more sense to say that the disbelivers will be "burned" in the fire, rather than "heated".

  • From the same root, modern Arabic has the word سجارة (sijaara) meaning "cigarette" [1] It's more fitting to say that a cigarette is burning, rather than heating.

Heating of the seas

"Heating the sea" is an extremely vague term. The sea could be heated by the Sun or by organisms who live in it. The "hydrothermal vents" interpretation is very specific and unsubstantiated.

Also the question is whether the author of the Quran was more interested in the meaning or in the rhyming. It could be also interpreted that he just wanted some word that would rhyme with the rest:

81:1 When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness] (كورت, kuwwirat)

81:2 And when the stars fall, dispersing, (انكدرت, inkadarat)

81:3 And when the mountains are removed (سيرت, suyirat)

81:4 And when full-term she-camels are neglected (عطلت, uttilat)

81:5 And when the wild beasts are gathered (حشرت, hushirat)

81:6 And when (إذا) the seas are filled with flame (سجرت, sujjirat)

81:7 And when the souls are paired (زوجت, zuwwijat)

81:8 And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked (سئلت, su'ilat)

81:9 For what sin she was killed (قتلت, qutilat)

81:10 And when the pages are made public (نشرت, nushirat) ...


Quran 81:1, Sahih International

See also

References