Science in the Glorious Quran: Clouds

 Heavy Clouds

“هُوَ الَّذِي يُرِيكُمُ الْبَرْقَ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَيُنشِئُ السَّحَابَ الثِّقَالَ” (الرعد:12).

“It is He Who shows you the lightning, with fear and hope, and He produces the excessively heavy clouds.” (Qur’an, 13:12)

According to modern science, a thunder-cloud may contain up to 300,000 tonnes of water.  The heaviness of the clouds in the Qur’anic verse is referred to as “theqal”, which means “excessively heavy”. Was it possible when the Qur’an was revealed for people to believe that clouds –which are carried and moved by winds– could be so heavy?

Vertical growth (stacking) of clouds makes them reach a height of 25,000 feet and therefore they look like mountains.

Clouds may carry as much as 300,000 tonnes of water.