ISLAM

LOCATION : Medina

HISTORY : 621

NAME : Holy Quran, Surah Nur, verse 35

NEWS : Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light: It is like a cavity with a lamp in it. The lamp is in a glass. And that glass is like a pearly planet. Its fuel is from a luxuriant olive tree that belongs neither to the east nor to the west. The oil of this tree gives light even if it is almost untouched by fire. It is light upon light. Allah guides whom He wills to His light. Allah gives examples to mankind. Allah knows everything.

SCIENCE

LOCATION : United States of America, New Jersey

DATE : 1879

NAME : Thomas Alva Edison

NEWS : Invention of the electric light bulb

Two subjects that are often confused with each other; electricity and light bulb. Therefore, when asked who invented electricity, Edison is usually answered. However, electricity is not an invention. It is a type of energy. Edison also invented not electricity, but the method of enlightenment by utilising electricity. If what is meant by electricity is its definition, its inventor is Benjamin Franklin[221]. At the end of his experiment by flying a kite in a stormy weather, he discovered that lightning is an electrical event and the plus and minus ends of electric charges.

In 1879, Edison invented an electric light bulb made of carbonised paper filament[222]. In 1878, the British scientist Joseph Wilson Swan[223] invented a new electric bulb. This bulb contained a charred filament. With this invention, he also prevented the filament from burning out in an airless environment by discharging the air inside the bulb. Later, these two scientists came together and joined forces and founded the “Edison and Swan Electric Lighting Company”.

The relevant verse in the Holy Qur’an describes the same path followed for the invention of this light bulb. It is expressed by analogy to the light that Allah has appointed for the sky and the earth. This light is explained by giving an example as if to say, “You will know it in the future, not now”. “The example of His light: It is like a cavity with a lamp in it. The lamp is in a glass.” In the verse, it is stated that the substance of this enlightenment, which is brought as an example, is made of glass and its shape is like a lantern[224], and in the verse “That glass is like a pearly planet.” it is expressed in the verse that this substance in the form of a lantern made of glass is bright like a pearl, just like the light of the planet. “Its fuel is from a luxuriant olive tree, which belongs neither to the east nor the west. The oil of this tree gives light even if it is almost untouched by fire.” In the expression, it is given that the light, which is bright like a pearly planet, does not belong anywhere and will still illuminate even if fire does not touch it. The movement of electric charges is called electric current. If charged particles such as electrons, protons, ions, etc. are moving in some way, it means that there is an electric current in the environment. This electricity is generated by the movement of free electrons in solid objects such as cables, and by the movement of both positive and negative ions in liquids and gases. In other words, as the verse mentions, its fuel does not belong to the east or the west. And the verse says, “The Light is light upon light. Allah guides whom He wills to His Light. Allah gives examples to mankind. Allah is all-knowing.” The verse that begins, “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth,” again concludes with the words light, light, guidance and scholar.

The author of the Qur’anic Commentary of the Century has summarised the different interpretations found in other commentaries on this verse as follows.

a) Allah Almighty guides the beings in the heavens and the earth; in other words, He guides those who are qualified with His light. Therefore, everyone who reaches the right path is supported by His light of guidance.

b) Allah has enlightened the heavens with angels and the earth with prophets.

c) Allah has illuminated the heavens with the sun, moon and stars and the earth with prophets and righteous people.

d) The lamp house is the blessed chest of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The lamp in it is prophethood and messengership. The blessed tree is the Holy Qur’an.[225]

[221] Inventor, philosopher, scientist and diplomat (b.1706 – d. 1790)

[222] Heat-resistant thin long wire with high resistance

[223] English physicist and chemist (b. 1828 – d. 1914)

[224] A cover made of glass to cover some things

[225] Celal Yıldırım, the Qur’anic exegesis of the century in the light of science, Anadolu publications: 8/4222- 4223