THE FUNCTION OF MOUNTAINS The Qur’an draws attention to a very
important geological function of mountains. We placed firmly
embedded mountains on the earth, so it would not move under
them… (The Qur’an, 21:31) As we have noticed, it is stated in
the verse that mountains have the function of preventing shocks
in the Earth. This fact was not known by anyone at the time the
Qur’an was revealed. It was in fact brought to light only
recently as a result of the findings of modern geology.
According to these findings, mountains emerge as a result of the
movements and collisions of massive plates forming the Earth’s
crust. When two plates collide, the stronger one slides under
the other, the one on the top bends and forms heights and
mountains. The layer beneath proceeds under the ground and makes
a deep extension downward. That means that mountains have a
portion stretching downwards, as large as their visible parts on
the Earth. In a scientific text, the structure of mountains is
described as follows: Where continents are thicker, as in
mountain ranges, the crust sinks deeper into the mantle.4 In a
verse, this role of the mountains is pointed out by a comparison
with “pegs”: Have We not made the earth as a bed and the
mountains its pegs? (The Qur’an, 78:6-7) Mountains, in other
words, clench the plates in the Earth’s crust together by
extending above and beneath the Earth’s surface at the
conjunction points of these plates. In this way, they fix the
Earth’s crust, and prevent it from drifting over the magma
stratum or among its plates. Briefly, we may liken mountains to
nails that keep pieces of wood together. This fixing function of
the mountains is described in scientific literature by the term
“isostasy”. Isostasy means the following: Isostasy: general
equilibrium in the Earth’s crust maintained by a yielding flow
of rock material beneath the surface under gravitational
stress.5 This vital role of mountains, that was discovered by
modern geology and seismic research, was revealed in the Qur’an
centuries ago as an example of the supreme wisdom in God’s
creation. We placed firmly embedded mountains on the earth, so
it would not move under them… (The Qur’an, 21:31)

THE MOVEMENT OF MOUNTAINS In one verse, we are informed that
mountains are not motionless as they seem, but are in constant
motion. You will see the mountains you reckoned to be solid
going past like clouds. (The Qur’an, 27:88) This motion of the
mountains is caused by the movement of the Earth’s crust that
they are located on. The Earth’s crust ‘floats’ over the mantle
layer, which is denser. It was at the beginning of the 20th
century when, for the first time in history, a German scientist
by the name of Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents of
the earth had been attached together when it first formed, but
then drifted in different directions, and thus separated as they
moved away from each other. Geologists understood that that
Wegener was right only in the 1980s, 50 years after his death.
As Wegener pointed out in an article published in 1915, the land
masses on the earth were joined together about 500 million years
ago. As Wegener pointed out in a 1915 article, the land masses
of the earth were joined together some 500 million years ago,
and this large mass, called Pangaea, was located in the South
Pole. Approximately 180 million years ago, Pangaea divided into
two parts, which drifted in different directions. One of these
giant continents was Gondwana, which included Africa, Australia,
Antarctica and India. The second one was Laurasia, which
included Europe, North America and Asia, except for India. Over
the next 150 million years following this separation, Gondwana
and Laurasia divided into smaller parts. These continents that
emerged after the split of Pangaea have been constantly moving
on the Earth’s surface at several centimetres per year, in the
meantime changing the sea and land ratios of the Earth.
Discovered as a result of the geological research carried out at
the beginning of the 20th century, this movement of the Earth’s
crust is explained by scientists as follows:

The crust and the uppermost part of the mantle, with a thickness
of about 100 kms., are divided into segments called plates.
There are six major plates, and several small ones. According to
the theory called plate tectonics, these plates move about on
Earth, carrying continents and ocean floor with them.
Continental motion has been measured at from 1-5 cm per year. As
the plates continue to move about, this will produce a slow
change in Earth’s geography. Each year, for instance, the
Atlantic Ocean becomes slightly wider.6

There is a very important point to be stated here: God has
referred to the motion of mountains as a drifting action in the
verse. Today, modern scientists also use the term “Continental
Drift” for this motion. 7 Unquestionably, it is one of the
miracles of the Qur’an that this scientific fact, which has
recently been discovered by science, was announced in the
Qur’an.