Is There a Topic of 5 Unknowns in the Quran?
Based on a verse occurring in Surah Luqman and a hadith narrated on this subject, it is said that 5 topics can definitely not be known. But in the light of today’s technological developments, it turns out that some of the topics claimed to be unknowable are known. When one sets out with faulty interpretations, it may be supposed that there is a contradiction between science and the verses of the Quran. First let us see the hadith and the verse that are the source of this claim, and then let us evaluate the claim.
There is a narration that forms the basis of this claim. According to it, a bedouin comes to the prophet and asks about 5 topics. These questions are as follows: “ When will Doomsday occur?, When will it rain?, When will my wife give birth?, Where will I die? And What will I earn tomorrow?
According to the hadiths, verse 34 of Surah Luqman was sent down upon these questions. And some traditional commentators in the verse it is said that the answer to these 5 questions cannot be known by anyone.
But today the fetus in the mother’s womb is known through technological means, or when rain will fall can be determined by scientists.
According to the interpretation of the commentators who interpret on the basis of the hadith attributed to our Prophet, the Quran says that these cannot be known.
When the verse in Surah Luqman is read carefully, it will be seen that the situation is very different. The verse in Surah Luqman is as follows:
‘’ The knowledge about when Doomsday will come is with Allah. He sends down the rain, He knows what is in the wombs. No one knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no one knows in what place he will die. Surely Allah knows everything, is informed of everything.” (Surah Luqman, 34)
According to the verse, the knowledge of Doomsday is with Allah. It is Allah who sends down the rain, but in the verse there is no statement to the effect that when it will fall is not known. A matter not stated in the Quran is interpreted, under the influence of fabricated or misunderstood hadiths, as if it were stated in the verses. In the same way, the verse explains that Allah will know what is in the wombs. But there is no statement in the verse that no one else can know. The condition of the child in the mother’s womb, its sex, its genetic structure through DNA analyses, the genetic diseases it carries, etc., everything can be known. There is no expression in the verse to the effect that these cannot be known.
In the continuation of the verse, two things that cannot be known are stated. These are the matter of what we will earn tomorrow and where we will die.
Therefore, when criticizing the Quran, it will be right to make the criticism by looking at the text of the Quran, not by remaining bound to traditional interpretations. When this is done, it will be understood that the alleged contradiction is not a contradiction but only the product of a wrong interpretation.