Electromagnetic Radiation of Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A Scientific Reflection on the Qur’anic Verse of Light (Q. ۲۴:۳۵)

Olive oil is one of the most widely consumed and popular vegetable oils, with numerous applications including in the food industry. Among the factors influencing its quality, environmental conditions, particularly light exposure, play a significant role. Light radiation can trigger specific processes within olive oil that lead to chemical changes and a decline in quality. In religious literature, especially within the Qur’an, olive oil holds a prominent status; notably, it is the only edible oil explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an. In verse ۳۵ of Surah Al-Nūr, God draws a metaphor between His divine essence and light, establishing a symbolic connection between olive oil and illumination. The verse describes a light whose source is a blessed olive tree and further states that its oil is so luminous that it nearly gives light even without being touched by fire. The scientific investigation of this phenomenon forms the core objective of this study. This research presents a Qur’anic interpretation informed by key lexical analysis, exegetical perspectives and recent scientific findings, focusing on a unique property of olive oil. Studies indicate that extra virgin olive oil is among the rare types of oils extracted not from seeds but directly from the olive fruit, resulting in a high concentration of chlorophyll. The chlorophyll content enables the oil to emit light under ambient illumination, particularly in the infrared and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (with chlorophyll fluorescence occurring in the red region). Since the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum spans wavelengths from  red to violet (low to high energy), the light emitted by olive oil, depending on the intensity of surrounding light, approaches the threshold of human visual perception. In essence, olive oil can nearly emit light without contact with fire, a phenomenon remarkably echoed in verse ۳۵ of Surah Al-Nūr.

کلیدواژه ها:

The Qur’an and science ، Scientific Miracle ، Scientific Interpretation ، Olive Oil ، Verse of Light