"Or (the unbelievers state) is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by (dark) clouds: Depths of darkness, one above another: If a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it! For any to whom Allah does not give light, there is no light." [Quran 24:40]

Professor Rao confirmed that scientists now know darkness by means of submarines that have enabled them to dive into the depths of the ocean, where human beings are not able to dive unaided for more than twenty to thirty meters. Those who dive for pearls do so in shallow waters and can not dive any deeper than this. Human beings can not survive in the deep dark part of the oceans, such as at a depth of 200 meters. But this verse speaks about a phenomenon found in very deep oceans.

Hence, the statement of Allah about the darkness in a vast deep sea does not refer to just any sea, because not every sea can be described as having accumulated darkness layered one over another. This sort of layered darkness in deep seas has two causes out of which is the result of the successive disappearances of color, one layer after the other. The light ray is composed of seven colors, and when the light ray hits water, it is scattered into these seven colors.

In this picture (Fig. 20) we see a ray of light going through the depth of the ocean. The upper layer has absorbed the red color in the first 10 meters. If a diver would dive to a depth of 30 meters and gets wounded there, he would not be able to see his blood, because the red color does not reach this depth. In the same way, as we see in this picture, orange rays are absorbed next. Then at the depth of 50 meters yellow rays are absorbed. At the depth of 100 meters green rays are absorbed. At depths beyond 200 meters, blue rays are absorbed, and so on. From this, we can see that the ocean becomes progressively darker, that is darkness takes place in layers of light. As for the second reason, darkness originates as a result of barriers which conceal light.

Fig. 20

The light rays, which we see here, originate from the sun and absorbed by clouds, which in turn scatter some of the light rays, thus resulting in a layer of darkness under the clouds. This is the first layer of darkness. Then when light rays reach the surface of the ocean, they are reflected by the wave surface, thus giving it a shiny appearance. It is for this reason that when there are waves, the intensity of this reflection depends on the angle of the waves. Therefore, it is the waves that reflect light and therefore cause darkness. The unreflected light rays penetrate into the depth of the ocean, and thus we divide the ocean into two main layers, the surface and the deep part. The surface of the ocean is characterized by the light and warmth, whereas the deep is characterized by darkness.

These two parts of the ocean differ with respect to their properties and characteristics, and the surface is further separated from the deep part by waves. These internal waves were only discovered in the year 1900. Scientists have recently discovered that there are internal waves which "occur on dense interfaces between layers of different densities. The internal waves cover the deep waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a higher density than the waters above them. Internal waves act like surface waves. They can also break just like surface waves. Internal waves cannot be seen by the human eye, but they can be detected by studying temperature or salinity changes at a given location.

Underneath these waves which separate the two parts of the ocean, the darkness begins. Fish at these depths cannot see. Their only source of light is from their bodies. This darkness which is layered or tiered one over the other is what is referred to in the Quran: "Darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed by billow topped by billow." [Quran 24:40]

In other words, above those waves there are still more tiers of waves. The latter being found on the surface of the ocean. The Quran then informs us that darkness is: "Topped by clouds: Depths of darkness, one above another." [Quran 24:40]

This darkness is caused by the barriers explained, in addition to the darkness caused by the absorption of colors at the different levels that are layered one over the other.

The Quran goes on to say: "When a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it! For any to whom Allah gives not light, there is no light." [Quran 24:40]

Here is total darkness, submarines must bring their source of light with them, so who could have informed Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) of this?

We presented to Professor Rao many verses dealing with his area of specialization and we said: "What do you think of the existence of scientific information in the Quran? How could Prophet Muhammad have known about these facts 14 centuries ago?"

Professor Rao replied: "It is difficult to imagine that this type of knowledge was existing at the time around 1400 years back. Maybe some of the things they have simple ideas about such, but to describe those things in great detail is very difficult. So, this is definitely not a simple human knowledge. A normal human being cannot explain this phenomenon in that much detail. So I thought the information must have come from a supernatural source."

Yes, the source of such knowledge must be from a level beyond that of man. It cannot be from nature, as Professor Rao said, but this is far beyond nature, and far beyond human capability. What Professor Rao was trying to say is that this is something which cannot be attributed to a natural being, for it is truly the speech of the one who knows nature, the universe and its secrets, as the Quran tells us:

"Say: The (Quran) was sent down by Him who knows the secrets (that is) in the heavens and the earth..." [Quran 25:6]

It is from Allah. In this way, the testimonies of the scientists are concentrated one after the other in order to prove that this guidance and light contains in it the indisputable evidence of its truth, for the Quran is the source of guidance until the Last Hour.