Bedsores Miracle in the Quran
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WikiIslam Archive,
Archives of the first iteration of WikiIslam, prior to acquisition and revamp by Ex-Muslims of North America
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Some Islamic apologists claim that the Quranic verse 18:18 talks about bedsores. The verse doesn't mention bedsores at all.
The claim
Apologists claim that prevention of bedsores was described in the Quran 1400 years ago before it was discovered. They didn't explain why Muslims didn't use this method of prevention if it really was in the Quran.
Pressure ulcers, also known as bedsores, are localized damage to the skin and/or underlying tissue that usually occur over a bony prominence as a result of usually long-term pressure, or pressure in combination with shear or friction. The most common sites are the skin overlying the sacrum, coccyx, heels, and hips, though other sites can be affected, such as the elbows, knees, ankles, back of shoulders, or the back of the cranium... Although often prevented and treatable if detected early, pressure ulcers can be very difficult to prevent in critically ill people, frail elders and individuals with impaired mobility such as wheelchair users (especially where spinal injury is involved). Primary prevention is to redistribute pressure by regularly turning the person. The benefit of turning to avoid further sores is well documented since at least the 19th century. Wikipedia, Pressure Ulcer, 2019
Primary prevention is to redistribute pressure by regularly turning the person. However this was portrayed in the Quran 1400 years before it was discovered.
[Quran 18:18] You would think them awake, although they were asleep. And We turned them over to the right, and to the left, with their dog stretching its paws across the threshold. Had you looked at them, you would have turned away from them in flight, and been filled with fear of them.
"And We turned them over to the right, and to the left" today we know why; in order to prevent bedsores.
How could an illiterate man who lived 1400 years ago have known how to prevent bedsores?
- Why does Allah use an indirect method of preventing bedsores that is used by doctors, when he is all-powerful and he can directly make the people not have bedsores?
The verse
The verse doesn't mention bedsores at all:
You would think them awake, although they were asleep. And We turned them over to the right, and to the left, with their dog stretching its paws across the threshold. Had you looked at them, you would have turned away from them in flight, and been filled with fear of them.
But what's even more important is that the Quran tells a story (Seven Sleepers of Ephesus) that was already known among people. The historical context is that the Jews wanted to test Muhammad's knowledge:
The rabbis said, 'Ask him about three things of which we will instruct you; if he gives you the right answer then he is an authentic prophet, but if he does not, then the man is a rogue, so form your own opinion about him. Ask him what happened to the young men who disappeared in ancient days, for they have a marvellous story. Ask him about the mighty traveller who reached the confines of both East and West. Ask him what the spirit is. If he can give you the answer, then follow him, for he is a prophet. If he cannot, then he is a forger and treat him as you will.'
How did the Jews know that the story is marvellous if they didn't know the story?
Also another verse says that the sleep lasted for years:
It's not possible to sleep for a number of years without food and drink, therefore the story is unscientific.
Also the companions of Muhammad didn't understood the part "We turned them over to the right, and to the left" as a prevention of bedsores:
(And We turned them on their right and on their left sides,) Ibn `Abbas said: "If they did not turn over, the earth would have consumed them."
Also it doesn't seem that Allah was worried about bedsores, since he let the sleepers sleep on a hard floor in a cave, instead of giving them cushions.
