In the Name of ALLAH, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Author: Sajid Mahmood Ansari
Introduction:
All praise is due to ALLAH and His blessings and eternal peace be upon His Last Messenger, Abul Qasim Muhammad bin Abdullah, Al Makki, Al Madni, Al Arabi, Al Hashimi, and Al Qarshi.
There are a lot of works by contemporary intellectuals on the subject, but I am sorry to say that most of them have ignored Hadiths and original commentaries on the Qur’an. They just relied on their own intellect to interpret the Qur’anic narratives, even without caring about the context. Relating the science with Qur’an is a good job, but it requires basic knowledge of the Qur’an, Hadith, and Arabic language in addition to professional scientific knowledge. It is also important that only the established scientific facts should be allowed to relate to Qur’an. Mostly accepted theories by professional scientists, not contradictory to the established Islamic beliefs, may also be mentioned for an explanation of a particular theme, but controversial theories and hypotheses are not suitable for this noble cause. The interpretation should be based on solid scientific facts with verifiable standard references. One’s own preconceived perceptions should not be confused with scientific facts. In this paper we shall explain the true concept of the universe in Islam.
One should keep it in mind when he is relating science with the Qur’an, that the foremost audience of the Qur’an was the Arabic nation of the 7th century CE. They had little knowledge of the cosmos as compared to what we have today. The Qur’an repeatedly claims that it is an easy book to understand. It is not a mysterious book of magic spells or dogging puzzles. It was revealed in the Arabic environment so that people may understand it with a little effort. So any interpretation of a Qur’anic narrative, strange to the Arabic idioms and phrases is not permissible. An interpretation is acceptable if its root lies in the original Arabic commentaries, otherwise, it would be rejected. It does not mean that modern scientific terms should be there, but it simply means that the theme should be there. The present paper will prove that the original commentaries are rich in scientific facts, although there are non-prophetic traditional Arabic or Hebrew concepts too, which should be ignored.
The Qur’an is the versatile Book of Knowledge, covering diverse spheres of life. But still it is not the book of pure applied sciences. Facts about the cosmos are scattered throughout the book, but not as the nucleus and principal subject. The principal subject of the Qur’an is Tauheed (Monotheism) and the cosmic facts are mentioned as solid evidence of the oneness of only God------ Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala. These cosmic facts have not been given in scientific terms but the Qur’an has its own unique and simple terminology. These facts lead us to the conclusion that this marvelous cosmos is the work of the all-knowing, Omnipotent, and Beneficent, Almighty Allah.
THE COSMOS
“In its most general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from a Greek term κόσμος meaning "order, orderly arrangement, ornaments," and is the antithetical concept of chaos. Today the word is generally used as a synonym of the word Universe (considered in its orderly aspect).”
What the cosmos is now? What it was in the past and what is it likely to be in the future? How were the cosmos created? What is the ultimate fate of the cosmos? These are the basic themes of cosmology.
The Holy Quran gives a perfect cosmology, that is totally in conformity with modern scientific knowledge of the cosmos. There is not a single Ayah(verse) in the Holy Quran, that may be objectionable from a modern scientific point of view. The well-known French Physician Dr. Maurice Bucaille (Moris By, kaj) observes in his famous work, The Bible, The Quran, and Science:
“ The comparison of several Biblical and Quranic narrations of the same subject shows the existence of fundamental differences between the statements in the former, which are scientifically unacceptable, and declarations in the latter which are in perfect agreement with modern data: this was the case of the Creation and the Flood, for example.”
(Maurice Bucaille, The Bible,The Quran and Science, 2003, p.268, Tehrike Tarsile Quran, Inc, New York)
The Quran has used the Arabic construction Al-Aalameen, as a synonym for the cosmos. Al-Aalameen is the plural form of Al-Aalam, which has been derived from three lettered root ‘ilm’. Ilm means to know, so Al-Aalam means the world, through which the Creator is known.
(Abu Sayeed Abdullah bin Umar Al-Baidhawi, Anwar-ut-Tanzeel wa Asrar-ut-Taweel, 2000, vol.1, p.13, Daru-ur-Rasheed, Beirut, Lebanon)
However, Al-Aalameen, refers to all the creatures, as Imam Qatadah bin Diamah As-Sudusi (Be His mercy on him) argued.
The term Al-Aalameen appears in the Holy Quran 77 times and once more as another plural form Al-Aalmoon. It is other than the term Ad-Dunya is an Arabic synonym for world. Ad-Dunya has been used 115 times in the Holy Quran. Al-Aalameen first time appears in the first Ayah (verse) of the Holy Quran. Allah Almighty says:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
“All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Cosmos.”
Abdullah bin Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported that Jibreel said to The Prophet Muhammad, “O’ Muhammad! say, All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Cosmos. All the creatures belong to Him, all the heavens and their inhabitants, all the earths (planets) and their inhabitants, and what is between them, whether they are known or unknown.”
This Hadith declares that Al-Aalameen refers to all the creatures, present in the heavens and the earth or in between them. In other words, it is a synonym for the cosmos.
The frequent use of the term Al-Aalameen , in the Holy Quran, reveals that this Divine Book has given special attention to cosmology. It is, because, almost all nations and religions have specific beliefs about the universe, that formulate their beliefs about God and His relationship with man and the cosmos. So the Holy Quran has removed all the misconceptions of the people about God and the cosmos. Muslim cosmology formulates a specific mindset of its believers, engaging them in a scientific approach to natural phenomena, rather the superstitious ones.
PREDESTINATION: DIVINE PROGRAMMING
The harmony and order in the cosmos, caused by complex physical laws, leads us to the conclusion that it works like a matchless Quantum Computer. The computer boots and works according to a program given to it. Who did program the Cosmic Quantum Computer? The answer is very simple, the God Almighty, ALLAH subhanahu wa ta’ala. Nothing else answers the question correctly. ALLAH says:
“Glorify the name of your Lord, the Highest, Who created, then evolved. And Who programmed then guided.”
He says further:
“He, Whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Who did not take to Himself a son, and Who has no associate in the kingdom, and Who created everything, so predetermined for it a measure.”
He goes further:
“Verily, Allâh will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allâh did set a measure for all things.”
The Cosmic Program was written in The Bright Book:
“And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasures-- none knows them but He; and He knows what is in the land and the sea, and there falls not a leaf but He knows it, nor a grain in
the darkness of the earth, nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a Bright Book.”
The Bright Book is entitled as Lawh Mahfooz (Board Safeguarded), Glorious Qur’an is its part:
“Nay it is a glorious Qur’an, inscribed in Lawh Mahfooz (Board Safeguarded).”
Lawh Mahfoodh is a construction meant for a large and complex display of light on which Cosmic Program has been written. It resembles a hologram.
Al-Falaq: The Big Burst of Light
The eloquent and articulate way of expressing of the Holy Qur’an is extremely appreciable, particularly when it expresses the cosmic facts in comprehensive and specific words. It is the miraculous style of the Qur’an that expressed the origin of the cosmos through a single word ( الفلق Al-Falaq) that appears in the first Ayah of Surah Al-Falaq (Ch.113). The Qur’an reads:
“Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of Al-Falaq; from the evil of that which He created.”
The Arabic construction Al-Falaq has been derived from the root ف ل ق renders the meaning of breaking open or apart suddenly and violently, especially as a result of an impact or internal pressure. So the proper noun Al-Falaq holds the meaning of a specific burst or explosion. But it is not the whole story of Al-Falaq.
The majority of contemporary scholars of Quranic sciences translated the word Al-Falaq as Falaq al-Subh (daybreak). Defining the word al-falaq as daybreak is one of the possible meanings, but with a narrow spectrum. The second Ayah of the same Surah indicates that Al-Falaq is not mere routine daybreak, but it is associated with the creation. Actually, the first and second Ayah appear to be two clauses of a single statement. Read it again carefully:
“Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of Al-Falaq; from the evil of that which He created.”
So the two Ayat together give the full meaning with a broad spectrum.
Abdullah bin Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them), a cousin and close companion of the last Messenger Muhammad (May He shower His blessings and peace on him), profoundly said:
“Al-Falaq refers to the creation.”
So we can conclude without any difficulty that Al-Falaq refers to the Big Burst that occurred at the beginning of the creation of this world. This explosion renders the big flash of light that was the first daybreak. This phenomenon has been expressed in another Ayah. Allah Almighty says:
“All praise is [due] to Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light.”
Imam Qatadah (Be His mercy on him) said:
“The heavens (skies) were created before the earth and darkness were created before the light.”
This Ayah refers to the moment when there was no light, but darkness prevailed everywhere. After this darkness, light was created. It was the light that was created before the creation of the visible cosmos. We know today that light is a unique form of energy that is visible. When we look at the two Ayat together, the first Ayah of Surah Al-Falaq and the first Ayah of Surah Al-An’aam, we can easily comprehend that the explosion mentioned in the former Ayah occurred in light. So the explosion of light was the origin of the cosmos, According to the Qur’an.
Almost all the Greek philosophers believed that the cosmos is infinite, in the sense that it has no beginning and no end. The philosophers and scientists endured this belief throughout the ages till the mid of twentieth century. The first crack appeared in this belief in the first decade of the 20th century, when Albert Einstein presented his famous theory of general relativity. One of the important postulates of this theory was the relativity of mass and energy. That is expressed in the world fame equation of the mass-energy relationship:
E = mc^2
“The equation E = mc^2 states that the amount of energy possessed by an object is equal to its mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light. Since the speed of light is an incredibly high number, almost 300,000 km/sec, a small amount of mass contains a lot of energy. Additionally, the equation suggests that energy and mass are interchangeable with each other. In other words, energy can be converted to mass and mass to energy.”
This mass-energy relationship changed the whole scenario over time. Now, scientifically, it was admitted as a possibility that the cosmos may have come into existence out of nothingness. The mass-energy relationship lead the scientists later to formulate a theory that is known as Big Bang Theory. Before going to discuss this theory in detail, look! what the scientists have endorsed today?:
“The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation about how the universe began. At its simplest, it says the universe as we know it started with a small singularity, then inflated over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know today.”
“The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain what happened at the very beginning of our universe. Discoveries in astronomy and physics have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that our universe did in fact have a beginning. Prior to that moment, there was nothing; during and after that moment there was something: our universe. The big bang theory is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment.”
Subhan Allah! The materialists have to admit what the Holy Qur’an has emphasized time and again. Allah Almighty says:
“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?”
The scientific pieces of evidence for the Big Burst of Light will be mentioned in detail, while we shall discuss Big Bang Theory.
The Dynamic Universe
The Qur'an describes a dynamic model of the universe instead of a static one. In a number of narratives, it mentions that all the celestial bodies like the sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets are floating in a Falak (Arab:فلك).
Allah Almighty says:
“And the sun runs [on course] toward its destination. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing. And the moon - We have determined for it phases until it returns [appearing] like the old palm frond. It is not allowable for the sun to reach the moon, nor does the night overtake the day, but all heavenly bodies are floating in space.”
It is not the whole picture of the dynamic model of the universe, proposed by the Qur’an. It goes further and claims that the universe is expanding. Allah Almighty says:
“And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are expanding it.”
It simply means that the space is expanding.
At the time of the Qur’an’s revelation, philosophers and scientists believed in a static universe. If Qur’an was the work of a human being, how would have been possible for him to avoid the impression of that static model?
Vesto Melvin Slipher was an American astronomer who performed the first measurements of radial velocities for galaxies, providing the empirical basis for the expansion of the universe. Slipher was born in Mulberry, Indiana, and completed his doctorate at Indiana University in 1909.[1] He spent his entire career at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he was promoted to assistant director in 1915, acting director from 1916, and finally director from 1926 until his retirement in 1952. In 1912, he was the first to observe the shift of spectral lines of galaxies, making him the discoverer of galactic redshifts. Edwin Hubble is often incorrectly credited with discovering the redshift of galaxies;[8] these measurements and their significance were understood before 1917 by James Edward Keeler (Lick & Allegheny), Vesto Melvin Slipher (Lowell), and William Wallace Campbell (Lick) at other observatories.
A Belgian Catholic priest, astronomer, and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Leuven was a pioneer in applying Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity to cosmology. He proposed on theoretical grounds that the universe is expanding. Since Georges Lemaître first noted in 1927 that an expanding universe could be traced back in time to an originating single point, scientists have built on his idea of cosmic expansion.
In 1929, from an analysis of galactic redshifts, Edwin Hubble concluded that galaxies are drifting apart; this is important observational evidence consistent with the theory of an expanding universe. Combining his own measurements of galaxy distances with Vesto Slipher's measurements of the redshifts associated with the galaxies, Hubble and Milton Humason discovered a rough proportionality of the objects' distances with their redshifts. This redshift-distance correlation, nowadays termed Hubble's law, was formulated by Hubble and Humason in 1929 and became the basis for the modern model of the expanding universe.
In 1931 Lemaître went further and suggested that the evident expansion of the universe, if projected back in time, meant that the further in the past the smaller the universe was, until at some finite time in the past all the mass of the universe was concentrated into a single point, a "primeval atom" where and when the fabric of time and space came into existence.
Einstein, initially, was a staunch supporter of a static universe, so the idea of an expanding (dynamic) universe was not digestible to him. So added a physical constant to his equations to avoid a dynamic universe. Wikipedia observes:
“Einstein's first proposal for a solution to this problem involved adding a cosmological constant into his theories to balance out the contraction, in order to obtain a static universe solution. But in 1922 Alexander Friedmann derived a set of equations known as the Friedmann equations, showing that the universe might expand and presenting the expansion speed in this case. The observations of Edwin Hubble in 1929 suggested that distant galaxies were all apparently moving away from us so that many scientists came to accept that the universe was expanding.”
It was the Russian-American theoretical physicist and cosmologist George Gamow who led the development of the hot "big bang" theory of the expanding universe. He was the earliest to employ Alexander Friedmann's and Georges Lemaître's non-static solutions of Einstein's gravitational equations describing a universe of uniform matter density and constant spatial curvature. Gamow's crucial advance would provide a physical rectification of Lemaître's idea of a unique primordial quantum. Gamow did this by assuming that the early universe was dominated by radiation rather than by matter. Most of the later work in cosmology is founded on Gamow's theory. He applied his model to the question of the creation of the chemical elements and to the subsequent condensation of matter into galaxies, whose mass and diameter he was able to calculate in terms of the fundamental physical parameters, such as the speed of light c, Newton's gravitational constant G, Sommerfeld's fine-structure constant α, and Planck's constant h.
In 1948 he published a paper dealing with an attenuated version of the coupled set of equations describing the production of the proton and the deuteron from thermal neutrons. By means of a simplification and using the observed ratio of hydrogen to heavier elements he was able to obtain the density of matter at the onset of nucleosynthesis and from this the mass and diameter of the early galaxies. In 1953 he produced similar results, but this time based on another determination of the density of matter and radiation at the point at which they became equal. In this paper, Gamow determined the density of the relict background radiation from which a present temperature of 7K is trivially predicted – a value slightly more than twice the presently accepted value.
In 1964 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson serendipitously discovered cosmic background radiation, an omnidirectional signal in the microwave band. Their discovery provided substantial confirmation of the big-bang predictions by Alpher, Herman, and Gamow around 1950. Through the 1970s the radiation was found to be approximately consistent with a black body spectrum in all directions; this spectrum has been redshifted by the expansion of the universe, and today corresponds to approximately 2.725 K. This tipped the balance of evidence in favor of the Big Bang model, and Penzias and Wilson were awarded a Nobel Prize in 1978.
ESA’s Planck Mission (Spacecraft) has confirmed the existence of radiation throughout the universe, which is an echo of the Big Burst of Light.
“Europe's Planck spacecraft has obtained the most accurate and detailed map ever made of the oldest light in the universe. The map results suggest the universe is expanding more slowly than scientists thought and is 13.8 billion years old, 100 million years older than previous estimates.”
Plasma: The Cosmic Fluid
The Qur'an mentions that before the formation of the heavens and the earth, the primitive matter did exist in the form of a particular dense fluid. Allah Almighty says:
“ And He it is Who has created the heavens and the earth in six periods and His Throne was on the Fluid.”
The companion of the Prophet of Islam Muhammad, Emran bin Husain narrates that the Prophet said," Allah did exist (forever), while nothing did exist save Him, at a moment when His Arsh (Thorn) was on the Fluid, and He wrote about everything in Al Zikr (Lah Mahfooz) then He created the heavens and the earth."
Almost all Muslim scholars believe that universe was created out of the original cosmic fluid. The original cosmic fluid mentioned in the preceding narratives may be referred to the plasma, the so-called fourth state of matter. It is generally believed that plasma was in the form of dense fluid consisting of basic building blocks of matter.
NASA says:
“According to the theories of physics, if we were to look at the Universe one second after the Big Bang, what we would see is a 10-billion-degree sea of neutrons, protons, electrons, anti-electrons (positrons), photons, and neutrinos. Then, as time went on, we would see the Universe cool, the neutrons either decaying into protons and electrons or combining with protons to make deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen). As it continued to cool, it would eventually reach the temperature where electrons combined with nuclei to form neutral atoms.”
It is assumed that more than 99% of the visible universe is made of some form of plasma. Plasmas are by far the most common phase of ordinary matter in the universe, both by mass and by volume. Within our Solar System, interplanetary space is filled with the plasma expelled via the solar wind, extending from the Sun's surface out to the heliopause. Furthermore, all the distant stars and much of interstellar space or intergalactic space is also likely filled with plasma, albeit at very low densities. Astrophysical plasmas are also observed in Accretion disks around stars or compact objects like white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes in close binary star systems.[43] Plasma is associated with the ejection of material in astrophysical jets, which have been observed with accreting black holes[44] or in active galaxies like M87's jet that possibly extend out to 5,000 light-years.
Formation of Light Gases
The Qur'an mentions the first combustion of the universe which led to the conversion of energy into primeval atoms of light gases. Allah Almighty says:
“Then He intended to create the heaven and it became smoke therein.”
The Arabic construction for smoke in this Ayah is used دخان Dukhan. This word is used for the smoke evolving out as a result of the combustion process. In modern Arabic, it is also used for smoking. Smoke is produced in the form of a gaseous mixture. So this Ayah alludes to the first combustion of the world which resulted in the production of hydrogen atoms which eventually combined to form helium atoms, hence forming a hot gaseous mixture. Was there any word in the Arabic language to describe the primitive hot gaseous mixture better than دخان Dukhan, to inform the laymen of the 7th century (CE) of the Cosmic Fluid, who were even unaware of the modern concept of elements?
The Cosmic Evolution
It is an established fact among Muslim scholars that despite being Omnipotent, Allah did not create the universe at once within seconds, but He created it through a gradual evolutionary process. The Qur'an describes this cosmic evolution briefly as under:
“Are you more difficult to create or is the heaven that He constructed? He raised its height and has perfected it. Its night (space) He covered with darkness and its bright light (all luminous bodies) He evolved out, And after that, He spread the earth And brought forth therefrom its water and its pasture. And the mountains He has fixed firmly, (To be) a provision and benefit for you and your cattle.”
The evolutionary process described in this Ayah is quite similar to that proposed by cosmologists. The term 'heaven' is a translation of the Arabic word سما Sama, it literally means all the things elevated from the surface of the earth. Generally, when سما Sama is used in the Qur'an as a singular noun, it refers to the sky with all its observable objects, including the atmosphere, clouds, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets (excluding the earth), the meteorite, the comets, the nebulae, the galaxies, the quasars, etc. When the plural form of سما i.e سماوات Samawat is used, it refers to the Qur'anic Seven Heavens, which are invisible from the earth, even though powerful radio telescopes. They lie beyond the Dark Space. Abu 'Abdullah Al-Qurtubi (1214-1273 CE) observes: " Verily! Allah the Highesteemed created the Smoke of the heaven first and then created the earth, afterward He balanced the heaven and then intended to form the heaven that was in the form of smoke and made it perfect, after that He spread the earth." [15]
Sayed Mahmood Alusi quotes: " Allah created first the primitive matter of the universe in the form of an illuminated atom. Then He parted this matter and differentiated which is called (in the Qur'an) فتق Fataque ( Differentiation). He created light elements, suitable for heaven, and condensed elements for the earth. So He differentiated between the light elements and the condensed elements. All the creatures observed today were not created concurrently, but the heavens were created first. It is not suitable to doubt the lagging of the creation of the earth with all its objects behind the creation of heaven.
The Formation of Stars
The Qur’an explicitly describes the process of formation of the stars. According to Qur’an, the stars were formed through a combustion process, which is why the Qur’an ascribes the word Masabih مصابیح for stars, the plural form of Misbah مصباح that literally renders to a burning lamp. So stars (lamps) burn fuel to give off light and heat. Allah Almighty says:
“And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.”
It is a miraculous fact that Qur’an uses another Arabic word for the sun that is also meant for the lamp. So it is wonderful that Qur’an classifies the stars and the sun under the same category of luminous bodies. Allah Almighty says:
“And We constructed above you seven strong [heavens]. And made [therein] a burning lamp.”
This is a brief description of the evolutionary process of the creation of the universe. Beginning with a Big Burst of Light, and lasted the formation of stars. This is how modern science confirms the Qur’anic narratives regarding the origin and evolution of the universe. It is expected that the more new discoveries carried out, the more the Qur’anic narratives would find confirmation and verification. It just increases our conviction that the Holy Qur’an is not a human work but it is the Divine Word.
“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?”
