Electric power was discovered as late as in the 19th century AD. But it was clearly alluded to in the Qur’aan revealed in the 7th century! Reproduced here, in this context, is an extract from QUR’AANIC STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART II on Verse 35 of Surah 24:
Click Image to see the Verse in Arabic.
Transliteration of the Verse:
35. Allahu nooru alssamawati waal-ardi mathalu noorihi kamishkatin feeha misbahun almisbahu fee zujajatin alzzujajatu kaannaha kawkabun durriyyun yooqadu min shajaratin mubarakatin zaytoonatin la sharqiyyatin wala gharbiyyatin yakadu zaytuha yudee-o walaw lam tamsas-hu narun noorun AAala noorin yahdee Allahu linoorihi man yashao wayadribu Allahu al-amthala lilnnasi waAllahu bikulli shay-in AAaleemun
Translation of the Verse:
24:35. Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. His Light is as if there were a niche, inside the niche, a lamp, and the lamp, inside a glass. The glass, as it were, a bright star, fuelled by a blessed tree of olive, neither of the East nor of the West, oil of which would glow forth even when no fire touched it! Light over light! Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. And Allah makes use of similitudes for mankind. And Allah is aware of everything! 9 to 13
Study Notes:
9. "And there is none comparable unto Him." [Verse 112:4] So Allah makes use of similitudes or parables to convey to mankind some ideas about His unique Being. Similitudes, in terms of things mankind knows of. At the time the verse was revealed, over 1400 years ago, people had niches in the walls of their houses. They placed lamps there. The white-washed wall in the background acted as a reflector to give comparatively better light to a room on a dark night. They used olive oil as fuel for the lamp.
10. But no lamp then could be kindled without an external source of the fire. And there was no source of energy, available to mankind then, that could be made to glow forth on its own. Allah, therefore, said that the source of His Light was unlike anything known to human beings then ("neither of the East nor of the West"). But in similitudes, references are made to things that are known to people. Why then did Allah make references to things unknown, in the similitude He gave?
11. The All-knowing Allah fashioned His last Book of Guidance in such a way that it would be valid for all future generations till the Last Day. HE knew beforehand then, of the generations that would be given the knowledge of a source of energy - a fuel - that would glow by itself, 'even when no fire touched it'! No marks for guessing that electricity is such a source of energy.
12. It is the electric current that makes the electric bulb glow, without fire (as people, at the time the Qur'aan was revealed, knew of it) 'touching' it. The reflector has replaced the old-time niche for the modern-day 'focus' light. And the fluorescent material of the glass cover, for the electric lamp, glows in addition, producing the effect so aptly described as noorun alaa noor (light over light) in the divinely given similitude.
13. It is thus abundantly apparent that the similitude given in verse 24:35 was meant for people raised on this earth after the discovery of electricity, rather than for people living at the time of the revelation of the Qur'aan. By giving the similitude much before its time, the Almighty, and All-knowing, Allah has foretold the use of electricity, by future generations, for generation of brighter light.
The study notes above are extracted from my book In Qur’aanic Light
Mohammad Shafi
13th of April 2021.