The quran should not be interpreted as a book of science

Imam as-shatibi said about interpreting Qur`anic verses to suit scientific facts ,such as certain modern day and relatively older tafaseer which were written so as to explain how the verses were “scientifically compatible” [1] 


" ... إن السَلَف الصالح - من الصحابة والتابعين ومن يليهم - كانوا أعرف بالقرآن وبعلومه وما أُودع فيه، ولم تبلغنا أنه تكلم أحد منهم فى شىء من هذا المدَّعى سوى ما تقدم، وما ثبت فيه من أحكام التكاليف، وأحكام الآخرة، وما يلى ذلك، ولو كان لهم فى ذلك خوض ونظر لبلغنا منه ما يدلنا على أصل المسألة، إلا أن ذلك لم يكن فدل على أنه غير موجود عندهم، وذلك دليل على أن القرآن لم يُقصد فيه تقرير لشىء مما زعموا. نعم تضمن علوماً من جنس علوم العرب أو ما ينبنى على معهودها مما يتعجب منه أُولوا الألباب، ولا تبلغه إدراكات العقول الراجحة، دون الاهتداء بأعلامه، والاستنارة بنوره، وأما أن فيه ما ليس من ذلك فلا".


...the salaf us-saaleh, from the Companions and the Successors and those that came after them, were more knowledgeable ol the Qur`an and its sciences and what was hidden in it; yet none of them spoke of these things that are claimed to exist except for what we discussed (i.e.. some basic sciences)... and if (at all) they had become engrossed in such subjects, and examined (the Qur`an in such a light), it would have reached us, and at least the basic principle of this issue (i.e.. scientific interpretation) would have been proven to us. But we do not find any mention of this, which shows that they did not have this concern with them. And this is clear proof that the Qur`an was not sent to affirm what these people are presuming (that such and such scientific theories exists in the Qur`an). Yes, we are not denying that the Qur`an mentions some science that the Arabs had, and other (sciences) that are well-known; material that astonishes people of intellect... but to presume that it contains matters that it does not, then no (we do not say or accept this)!

[Ref: At-Tafseer wal-Muffasiroon by Dr. Muhammad Sayyid ad-Dhahabi (d. 1398 A.H) 2/358 - Also see http://sh.rewayat2.com/olomquran/Web/32729/001.htm (1/46)]


[1] Such as the two most famous tafseers in this category are Mafaatihal-Ghayb, by Fakhr ad-Deen ar-Raazee (d. 606 A.H.), and, al Jawaahir fet-Tafseer al Qur`an il-Kareem, by the famous Egyptian scholar Shaykh Tantaawee Jawharee (d. 1359 A.H.). There are other tafseers that have been influenced to various degrees by this type of interpretation, perhaps one of the most extreme being Tafseer al-Maraaghee, by Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Maraaghee (d. 1952 CE). In this work, the author denies or distorts almost all the supernatural miracles of the prophets, and denies the existence of angels and jinns, on the presumption that these facts are not explainable by science. He even goes to the extreme of claiming that Adam is not the father of all of creation, since 'modern historical and scientific research does not support this theory


See: WARNING FROM SELF INTERPRETATION OF QURAN AND HADEETH : http://the-finalrevelation.blogspot.com/2014/02/warning-from-self-interpretation-of.html