Short answer
No. The Qur'an is a book of signs, not a science textbook. It calls the things of creation signs, and it tells people to study them and to ask God (﷾) for more knowledge. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) drew the line himself. He once gave a passing opinion that farmers need not pollinate their date palms by hand, and the crop fell. He told them they knew the affairs of their world better, but that what he told them from God (﷾) must be accepted. So a Muslim should not tie a verse to the theory of the day. Theories change, and if one falls, the verse gets the blame. The Qur'an does not rise and fall with them. Its words stay exactly as they were revealed.
Full explanation
Creation is a book of signs
The Qur'an calls the heavens, the earth and the turning of night and day ayat, which means signs. It tells believers to think about them. It also promises that God (﷾) will show His signs in the wide world and in people themselves, until the truth is clear. A sign points beyond itself. The word the Qur'an uses is signs, not lessons in physics.
“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,- Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.”
“Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?”
A faith that begins with reading
The first words revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ) were a command to read. They speak of the pen, and of God (﷾) teaching man what he did not know. The Qur'an teaches the believer to pray for more knowledge. It also keeps him humble, by reminding him that the knowledge given to people is small.
“Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,- He Who taught (the use of) the pen,- Taught man that which he knew not.”
“High above all is Allah, the King, the Truth! Be not in haste with the Qur'an before its revelation to thee is completed, but say, "O my Lord! advance me in knowledge."”
“They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration). Say: "The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you, (O men!)"”
The date-palm lesson
Once the Prophet (ﷺ) passed farmers pollinating their palms by hand (helping the trees to bear dates). He gave a passing opinion that they need not do it. They stopped, and the harvest fell. He told them it had been only his own opinion. He said they knew better about the affairs of their world, and that what he told them from God (﷾) was a different matter. Farming is learned by trial and error. Revelation is not. That line left Muslims free to study the world without fear.
Talha reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) passed people pollinating date palms by hand and said he did not think it was of use. They stopped, and the crop fell. The Prophet then said that if it helped they should do it, because that had only been his own opinion; but when he told them something from Allah, they must follow it, because he would never say anything false about Allah.
Anas and Aisha report the same event: after the date-palm crop fell, the Prophet (ﷺ) told the farmers that they knew better about the affairs of their world.
Why science's findings can change
Science corrects itself, which is its strength. So its findings can change. Ptolemy, an ancient Greek astronomer, taught an earth-centred universe, and it was followed for well over a thousand years before Copernicus (1543). Newton's laws stood for more than two hundred years. Then Einstein's general relativity (1915) showed they are very close to the truth but not exact. In the early 1980s, two doctors, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, showed that most stomach ulcers are caused by a bacterium, not stress.
Sets out a model of the universe with the sun, not the earth, at the centre, in place of the earth-centred picture of Ptolemy that the learned world had followed for well over a thousand years.
Shows that general relativity accounts for the slow shift in the orbit of Mercury, which Newton's theory of gravity could not fully explain.
Awards the prize to Barry Marshall and Robin Warren for discovering the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease, against the long-held view that ulcers were caused by stress and lifestyle.
Signs that have not had to be withdrawn
Where the Qur'an speaks of the natural world, it does not repeat the learned mistakes of its age. Two examples are a two-horned womb and lightning as burning vapour. In the twentieth century, astronomy found strong evidence that the universe had a beginning. That undercut an idea unbelief had long leaned on, an eternal universe. No verse had to be reinterpreted. The Qur'an speaks of the heavens and the earth once joined together and then parted, and of the sky when it was smoke. These are offered as signs, not as proof of a theory. They are set out on their own page.
“Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?”
“Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly." They said: "We do come (together), in willing obedience."”
Science and revelation answer different questions
Science describes how things work, such as how a star burns or a disease spreads. It cannot say why there is anything at all, or what a person ought to do. The claim that only science gives truth cannot itself be proved by science. The Nobel Prize-winning biologist Peter Medawar said that science cannot answer some questions. These include how everything began, what we are here for and what the point of living is.
A Nobel Prize-winning biologist argues that science is the most successful way of understanding the natural world, but that it has limits: it cannot answer questions about first and last things, such as how everything began, what we are here for, and what the point of living is.
Muslims who tested the ancients
Muslim scholars studied the stars and the body, and they tested the ancients. In the eleventh century, Ibn al-Haytham tested theories of light and sight by experiment in his Book of Optics. In Doubts Concerning Ptolemy, he pointed out contradictions in the greatest astronomer of the ancient world.
English translation and study of Books I-III of Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics (Kitab al-Manazir, early eleventh century). It shows him testing theories of light and vision by controlled observation and experiment.
Ibn al-Haytham's critique of Ptolemy, the most respected astronomer of the ancient world. He lists contradictions and weak points in Ptolemy's works, and holds that even the greatest authority must be tested.
Perspectives
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an is a book of guidance. Its descriptions of creation are signs pointing to God (﷾). The Prophet (ﷺ) separated worldly skill from revelation. So Muslims study the world freely, and never make a verse depend on a theory that may change.
The Qur'an calls the things of creation signs, and commands reflection on them. It does not set out to teach physics or medicine.
The first revelation commands reading and praises the pen, and the Qur'an teaches the believer to ask for more knowledge.
In the date-palm reports the Prophet (ﷺ) called his farming advice a personal opinion. He told the farmers they knew their worldly affairs better, and said that what he conveyed from God (﷾) must be accepted.
Muslim scientists such as Ibn al-Haytham tested even the most respected ancient authorities, by experiment and by criticism.
By science's own account, its findings can change. So a verse should never be made to depend on a current theory.