In Surah Hud, verse 7, the Quran says that before the creation of the heavens and the earth, Allah’s Throne was settled upon water.
Quran 11:7:
"And it is He (Allah) who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and His Throne was upon water before that."
Muhammad then confirms this in several Hadiths, and the Companions and early scholars follow this understanding.
Waki' bin Hudus narrated that his paternal uncle Abu Razin said: "I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, where was our Lord before He created His creation?' He said: He was above the clouds, below which was air, and above which was air and water. Then He created His Throne above the water.'"
He said, "First of all, there was nothing but Allah, and (then He created His Throne). His throne was over the water, and He wrote everything in the Book (in the Heaven) and created the Heavens and the Earth."
Today, science has proven that the universe was created due to the Big Bang, and at that time, there was no existence of anything like water or air or clouds.
Our Earth itself formed approximately 9 billion years after the Big Bang. It took additional billions of years for it to cool down, and only then did water begin to form.
Clouds and air developed even later, but Prophet Muhammad placed Allah in the clouds with air above and below even before the creation of the universe.
Today’s Muslims surely have no proper answer for this clear scientific error in the Quran, except weak excuses, such as saying that the water beneath the Throne was not like the water on our earth, and that the clouds and the air above and below were not like the clouds and air on earth, but were metaphorical.
However, contrary to these modern Muslims, the Companions, Tabi‘un, and early scholars (Salaf) all believed the water beneath the Throne to be literal, not metaphorical. They only arrived at this metaphorical interpretation because there is not even the slightest indication in the Quran or Hadith that suggests it should be taken metaphorically.
In reality, the story of gods existing in water in the heavens is found in other ancient religions as well, from where these tales spread to the Arab society. For example, the Hindu god Vishnu is believed to reside in water in the heavens.
Here is the very first verse of the Bible.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NIV
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Today's Muslims bring forward two excuses:
- The Quran is not a book of science.
- The words like water, clouds, etc., used in the Quran are not literal but have some metaphorical meaning.
Response:
If the Quran is not a book of science, then why did Allah feel the need to make incorrect scientific claims about the beginning of the universe? Wouldn’t it have been enough for Allah to simply say that you won’t be able to comprehend the origins of the universe and end the discussion there? Why does the Quran repeatedly mention scientific facts, and then today’s Muslims come forward with the excuse that the Quran is not a book of science?
So, now that the Quran has been caught presenting wrong science, Muslims have, for the first time, started claiming that the Quran is not a scientific text. Couldn’t Allah or Muhammad themselves have said in the Quran that questions about the origins of the universe shouldn’t be asked because the Quran is not a book of science? And couldn’t Allah or Muhammad have explained that the mentions of water and clouds, etc., are not to be taken literally but have metaphorical meanings that we won’t understand?
Think about it. Every fraudulent religion does the same thing: they tell their followers all sorts of incorrect stories about the creation of the universe because they believe that no one can go back in time to witness the creation. So, they feel free to tell any stories they want—who can refute them? But today, when modern science has caught these fraudulent religions, they all make the same excuse that their holy books are not scientific, and their words should be interpreted metaphorically, and so on.
Is there any difference between the excuses made by Muslims and Hindus? No, not even a bit. Neither can explain why their gods needed to make such incorrect scientific claims, nor why they didn’t simply say not to ask these questions because they are beyond human understanding.
Hassan Radwan