Barrier between Sweet and Salt Waters

 

Consider the following Quranic verses: “He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: between them is a barrier which they do not transgress.” (Quran 55:19:20) In the Arabic text the word ‘barzakh’ means a barrier or a partition. The Arabic word ‘maraja’ literally means ‘they both meet and mix with each other.’

Early commentators of the Quran were unable to explain the two opposite meanings for the two bodies of water, i.e. they meet and mix, and at the same time, there is a barrier between them.

Modern Science has discovered that in places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity and density. (Principles of Oceanography, Davis, 92-93)

Oceanologists are now in a better position to explain this verse. There is a slanted unseen water barrier between the seas through which water from one sea passes to the other. But when the water from one sea enters the other sea, it loses its distinctive characteristic and becomes homogenized with the other water. In a way this barrier serves as a transitional homogenizing area for the two waters. This scientific phenomenon mentioned in the Quran was also confirmed by Dr. William Hay who is a well-known marine scientist and Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, U.S.A.

The Quran mentions this phenomenon also in the following verse: “And made a separating bar Between the two bodies Of flowing water?” (Quran 27: 61)

This phenomenon occurs in several places, including the divider between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean at Gibraltar. But when the Quran speaks about the divider between fresh and salt water, it mentions the existence of ‘ a forbidding partition’ with the barrier. “It is HE WHO has Let free the two bodies Of flowing water: One palatable and sweet, And the other salty and bitter; Yet has HE Made a barrier between them, And a partition that is forbidden To be passed.” (Quran 25: 53)

Modern Science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and salt water meet, the situation is somewhat different from that found in places where two seas meet. It has been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuaries is a “pycnocline zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers.” (Oceanography, Gross, 242. Also see Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, 300-301; Oceanography, Gross, 244 and Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, 300-301)

This phenomenon occurs in several places, including Egypt, where the river Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Darkness In The Depths Of The Ocean Prof. Durga Rao is an expert in the field of Marine Geology and was a professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. He was asked to comment on the following verse: “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 Giveth not light, There is no light!” (Quran 21:40)

Prof. Rao said that scientists have only now been able to confirm, with the help of modern equipment that there is darkness in the depths of the ocean. Humans are unable to dive unaided underwater for more than 20 to 30 meters, and cannot survive in the deep oceanic regions at a depth of more than 200 meters. This verse does not refer to all seas because not every sea can be described as having accumulated darkness layered one over another. It refers especially to a deep sea or deep ocean, as the Quran says, ‘darkness in a vast deep ocean.’ This layered darkness in a deep ocean is the result of two causes:

1. A light ray is composed of seven colors. These seven colors are Violet, Indigo, Blue. Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. The light ray undergoes refraction when it hits water. The upper 10 to 15 meters of water absorb the red color. Therefore if a diver is 25 meters under water and gets wounded, he would not be able to see the red color of his blood, because the red color does not reach this depth. Similarly orange rays are absorbed at 30 to 50 meters, yellow at 50 to 100 meters, green at 100 to 200 meters, and finally, blue beyond 200 meters and violet and indigo above 200 meters. Due to successive disappearance of color, one layer after another, the ocean progressively becomes darker, i.e. darkness takes place in layers of light. Below a depth of 1000 meters there is complete darkness.(Oceans, Elder and Pernetta, 27)

2. The sun’s rays are absorbed by clouds which in turn scatter light rays thus causing a layer of darkness under the clouds. This is the first layer of darkness. When light rays reach the surface of the ocean they are reflected by the wave surface giving it a shiny appearance.

Therefore it is the waves which reflect light and cause darkness. The unreflected light penetrates into the depths of the ocean. Therefore the ocean has two parts. The surface characterized by light and warmth and the depth characterized by darkness. The surface is further separated from the deep part of the ocean by waves. The internal waves cover the deep waters of seas and oceans because the deep waters have a higher density than the waters above them. The darkness begins below the internal waves. Even the fish in the depths of the ocean cannot see; their only source of light is from their own bodies.

The Quran rightly mentions: “Darkness in a vast deep ocean overwhelmed with waves topped by waves.” In other words, above these waves there are more types of waves, i.e. those found on the surface of the ocean. The Quranic verse continues, “topped by (dark) clouds; depths of darkness, one above another.” These clouds as explained are barriers one over the other that further cause darkness by absorption of colors at different levels. Prof. Durga Rao concluded by saying, “1400 years ago a normal human being could not explain this phenomenon in so much detail. Thus the information must have come from a supernatural source.”

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