Islamic Scientific Schools

In the Name of Allah---the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Stars: The Qur'anic Clocks of Cosmic Entropy Stellar Light, the Arrow of Time, and the End of the Present Cosmic Order Time is one of the most fundamental features of human experience. We remember the past, experience the present, and anticipate the future. Yet physics reveals something profound about the direction in which time appears to flow: entropy tends to increase . The Second Law of Thermodynamics states, in simplified form, that the entropy of an isolated system tends to increase. Entropy is commonly associated with disorder, but in modern statistical physics it is more accurately understood as a measure of the number of microscopic configurations compatible with a system's macroscopic state. As entropy increases, energy becomes progressively less available for performing useful work. This principle has profound implications for the ultimate destiny of the physical universe. If the universe continues toward...

In the Name of Allah---the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Quantum Photosynthesis: Why the Same Basic Process Produces Thousands of Flavours Photosynthesis is often introduced as a simple equation: plants take carbon dioxide and water, use sunlight, and produce carbohydrates and oxygen. But beneath this apparently simple process lies an extraordinary molecular system in which quantum mechanics, molecular biology, chemistry, genetics, and the environment operate together . At the smallest scale, a plant does not simply "absorb sunlight." Photons interact with electrons in pigment molecules. The resulting electronic excitation moves through networks of chlorophyll and other pigments, ultimately reaching a reaction centre where charge separation initiates a chain of electron-transfer reactions. The plant then uses the resulting chemical energy to convert carbon dioxide into organic molecules. Modern research has shown that some of the earliest stages of this process involve ...

In the Name of Allah---the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. The Earth Is Shrinking Cooling, Solidification, Global Contraction, and a Possible Physical Interpretation of Qur'an 21:44 Introduction The Earth is often imagined as a physically permanent sphere whose dimensions have remained essentially unchanged since its formation. Modern geophysics, however, presents a much more dynamic picture. The Earth was formed in an extremely hot state, underwent extensive melting and differentiation, and has been continuously losing internal heat ever since. Its interior remains thermally active, but the planet has nevertheless undergone a long history of cooling, crystallization, solidification, and density changes. This raises a fundamental physical question: If a planet formed from extremely hot and partly molten material gradually cools and solidifies, should its physical dimensions remain exactly constant? The answer is not necessarily. Solidification and cooling can change density and...