| THE PROPORTION OF RAIN | | | | condenses around the salt crystals or dust |
| One of the items of information given in the | | | | particles in the air. Because the water droplets in |
| Qur'an about rain is that it is sent down to Earth | | | | these clouds are very small (with a diameter |
| in due measure. This is mentioned in Sura Zukhruf | | | | between 0.01 and 0.02 mm), the clouds are |
| as follows; | | | | suspended in the air, and spread across the sky. |
| It is He who sends down water in due measure | | | | Thus, the sky is covered in clouds. |
| from the sky by which We bring a dead land | | | | THIRD STAGE: "
and you see the rain come |
| back to life. That is how you too will be raised | | | | pouring our from the middle of them" |
| (from the dead). (The Qur'an, 43:11) | | | | The water particles that surround salt crystals |
| This measured quantity in rain has again been | | | | and dust particles thicken and form raindrops, so, |
| discovered by modern research. It is estimated | | | | drops that become heavier than the air leave the |
| that in one second, approximately 16 million tons | | | | clouds and start to fall to the ground as rain. |
| of water evaporates from the Earth. This figure | | | | As we have seen, every stage in the formation |
| amounts to 513 trillion tons of water in one year. | | | | of rain is related in the verses of the Qur'an. |
| This number is equal to the amount of rain that | | | | Furthermore, these stages are explained in |
| falls on the Earth in a year. This means that | | | | exactly the right sequence. Just as with many |
| water continuously circulates in a balanced cycle, in | | | | other natural phenomena on the Earth, God gives |
| a "measure". Life on Earth depends on this water | | | | the most correct explanation of this phenomenon |
| cycle. Even if people used all the available | | | | as well, and made it known to people in the |
| technology in the world, they would not be able | | | | Qur'an centuries before it was discovered. |
| to reproduce this cycle artificially. | | | | In another verse, the following information is given |
| Even a minor deviation in this equilibrium would | | | | about the formation of rain: |
| very soon give rise to a major ecological | | | | Have you not seen how God drives along the |
| imbalance that would bring about the end of life | | | | clouds, then joins them together, then makes |
| on Earth. Yet, this never happens, and rain keeps | | | | them into a stack, and then you see the rain |
| falling every year in exactly the same quantity | | | | come out of it? And He sends down from the |
| just as revealed in the Qur'an. | | | | sky mountain masses (of clouds) with cold hail in |
| THE FORMATION OF RAIN | | | | them, striking with it anyone He wills and averting |
| How rain forms remained a great mystery for a | | | | it from anyone He wills. The brightness of His |
| long time. Only after weather radar was invented | | | | lightning almost blinds the sight. (The Qur'an, 24:43) |
| was it possible to discover the stages by which | | | | Scientists studying cloud types came across |
| rain is formed. | | | | surprising results regarding the formation of rain |
| According to this, the formation of rain takes | | | | clouds. Rain clouds are formed and shaped |
| place in three stages. First, the "raw material" of | | | | according to definite systems and stages. The |
| rain rises up into the air with the wind. Later, | | | | formation stages of cumulonimbus, one kind of |
| clouds are formed, and finally raindrops appear. | | | | rain cloud, are these: |
| The Qur'an's account of the formation of rain | | | | 1.STAGE, Being driven along: Clouds are carried |
| refers exactly to this process. In one verse, this | | | | along, that is, they are driven along, by the wind. |
| formation is described in this way: | | | | 2.STAGE, Joining: Then, small clouds (cumulus |
| It is God Who sends the winds which stir up | | | | clouds) driven along by the wind join together, |
| clouds which He spreads about the sky however | | | | forming a larger cloud.9 |
| He wills. He forms them into dark clumps and you | | | | 3.STAGE, Stacking: When the small clouds join |
| see the rain come pouring out from the middle of | | | | together, updrafts within the larger cloud increase. |
| them. When He makes it fall on those of His | | | | The updrafts near the centre of the cloud are |
| slaves He wills, they rejoice. (The Qur'an, 30:48) | | | | stronger than those near the edges. These |
| Now, let us examine these three stages outlined | | | | updrafts cause the cloud body to grow vertically, |
| in the verse more technically. | | | | so the cloud is stacked up. This vertical growth |
| FIRST STAGE: " It is God Who sends the winds..." | | | | causes the cloud body to stretch into cooler |
| Countless air bubbles formed by the foaming of | | | | regions of the atmosphere, where drops of water |
| the oceans continuously burst and cause water | | | | and hail formulate and begin to grow larger and |
| particles to be ejected towards the sky. These | | | | larger. When these drops of water and hail |
| particles, which are rich in salt, are then carried | | | | become too heavy for the updrafts to support |
| away by winds and rise upward in the | | | | them, they begin to fall from the cloud as rain, |
| atmosphere. These particles, which are called | | | | hail, etc.10 |
| aerosols, function as water traps, and form cloud | | | | We must remember that meteorologists have |
| drops by collecting around the water vapour | | | | only recently come to know these details of cloud |
| themselves, which rises from the seas as tiny | | | | formation, structure and function, by using |
| droplets. | | | | advanced equipment like planes, satellites, |
| SECOND STAGE: ".... which stir up clouds which He | | | | computers etc. It is evident that God has given |
| spreads about the sky however He wills. He | | | | us a piece of information that could not have |
| forms them into dark clumps..." | | | | been known 1,400 years ago. |
| The clouds are formed from water vapour that | | | | |