Title: Knowledge of the Unseen - Luqmaan 31: 34 Question: The Qur'an says: "Surely Allah is He with Whom is the knowledge of the hour, and He sends down the rain and He knows what is in the wombs; and no one knows what he shall earn on the tomorrow; and no one knows in what land he shall die; surely Allah is Knowing, Aware." (Luqman: 34) It is said that God knows about five things that no body knows, even not our prophet (pbuh). There is also a hadith in which prophet said that he did know about unseen except the five things mentioned in the above Quran verse. (Hadith of Ibn `Umar in Ahmad and Bukhari) A man from Banu `Amir, after asking the Prophet certain questions, said: "Is there any knowledge left which you do not know?" whereupon the Prophet said: "Allah has taught me a great good, and there is a kind of Unseen knowledge which Allah alone knows: He has knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, He knows what lies in the womb, no one (but He) knows what one will gain tomorrow, and no one (but He) knows in what land one shall die." Although we will never be able to know about the "Time of Last Hour", "Who will earn what tomorrow" and "Who will die when and where". But as the technology has advanced, now we can tell when it rains and also what is in the womb. We can also conceive either a boy or a girl through artificial fertilization. In future, knowledge regarding the above two will even grow more. I would like to know how do you see the phrase "send down the rain" and "what is in the womb" in Qur'an as unseen knowledge after so much advancement in science today. Jazzakallah Khairun Nauman Ilyas Answer: To fully understand the implication and stress of the referred verse, one should fully appreciate their context and placement in the Surah . The Surah has answered a number of questions and objections of the addressees of the Qur'an regarding the concept and belief in the Day of Judgment, which the Qur'an was warning them against. One such objection related to the exact time when the Day of Judgment shall be established: When the Prophet (pbuh) and the Qur'an admonished their addressees of the approaching Day of Judgment they would sarcastically ask in return that if the Day of Judgment is such a certainty, then when exactly will it come to pass? Obviously, the Prophet (pbuh) was not given any information about the time of the Day of Judgment. At the Prophet's (pbuh) inability to answer this question, the rejecters would laugh off the very idea of an approaching Day of Judgment. In the last verse of Surah Luqman , The Qur'an has referred to the fact that the lack of knowledge regarding the time of the Day of Judgment does not provide adequate grounds to reject the idea of the approaching Day of Judgment. In this verse, the Qur'an has referred to the fact that there are many phenomena in general human experience, the happening of which is accepted as a reality, even though man is, generally, not aware of the exact time or other details regarding that phenomena. In all such cases, the future happening of the phenomena is accepted on the basis of its signs, not on the basis of exhaustive information about them. In the stated context, the Qur'an has referred to a few phenomena, the extensive details of which were not known to its addressees, yet all of them believed in their taking place in future. Thus: Even though the exact time of the pouring rain was not known to man, yet on the basis of its signs in the sky over him and in the air around him, his expectations are not weakened by merely by the fact that he does not know the exact time of the downpour; Even though man did not have exhaustive information about what the wombs concealed, yet this lack of exhaustive information would not waver man's expectations about the life developing within the womb; Even though man does not know exactly what he shall face during the next day, yet this does not stop him from planning for his future; and Even though man does not know where exactly death will overtake him, yet death remains the most certain reality during the life of this world. If man believes in all these things without having exhaustive knowledge about any of these phenomena, then why should he require knowing the exact time of the happening of the Day of Judgment, to believe in it? The above should explain the correct context of the referred verses of Surah Luqman . Nevertheless, it should be of interest to note that among the five things mentioned in the verse, the exact time of the Day of Judgment, the knowledge of the events of future and the exact place of one's death are mentioned as known only to God - i.e. refuting knowledge for others besides God - while the knowledge of rainfall and that of what grows in the wombs has been mentioned as being known to God - without refuting knowledge for anyone else. In view of this precise choice of words, even if scientific developments were to reach a stage where man could determine the exact time of rainfall or the exhaustive details of what all the wombs concealed, it would not effect the referred verse of the Qur'an. The foregoing explanation should adequately answer your questions with reference to the Qur'anic verse. If the referred narratives are accepted to be accurately ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), then these should be seen as a reference to: at that time, no one besides God knew about the phenomena referred in the verse, yet this lack of exhaustive knowledge has never been considered sufficient grounds to reject the phenomena itself; even the Prophet (pbuh) did not have knowledge about any of the things mentioned in the verse. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad March 10, 2002