ISLAM AND SCIENCE

By: Osama Bin amer

9-C
 The Creation of the Universe
The formation of the universe is described in the Quran in the following verse:

“He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth.” (6:101)

The information given in the Quran is in full

agreement with the findings of modern science. The
conclusion that astrophysics has reached today is
that the entire universe was created as a result of
great explosion that occurred in no time. This
event, known as “The Big Bang” proved that the
entire universe was created from nothingness as a
result of the explosion of a single point. Modern scientists agree that the Big
Bang is the only rational and plausible explanation of the beginning and how
the universe came into being. Before the Big Bang, there was no such thing as
matter. So, we come to the conclusion that matter, time, and energy were
created and didn‟t exist since infinite.

“Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and
unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or not. They said: We come,
obedient.” (The Quran, 41:11)

Didn‟t the Quran say that the Heaven was smoke before its creation? Modern
science has every reason to maintain that the universe was formed from a
gaseous mass principally composed of hydrogen and a certain amount of
helium that was slowly rotating. We, therefore, see no contradiction in the
Quranic use of the Arabic word “dukhan” (translated smoke) and a modern
interpretation of that word as “a gaseous mass with fine particles” when
speaking of the formation of the universe.

“Have they not who disbelieve seen that the heavens and earth were joined
together (as one piece), then We parted them.” (21:30)
The Quran describes the phenomenon of the creation of the universe by using
two specific words:

“rataq” translated as: mixed in each ; blended.

“fataqa” is the verb in Arabic and implies that something comes into being by
tearing apart or destroying the structure of “rataq”.

As the earth and the heavens above (the sun, the moon, stars, planets,
galaxies, etc.) have been formed from this same „smoke‟, we conclude that the
earth and the heavens were once a connected entity. Then out of
this homogenous „smoke‟, they evolved into different forms and
separated from each other.

Hence, the verse reveals that the heavens and earth at the
beginning were joined together, and that subsequently they were
separated. Recent advance-ments in astronomy especially the
Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe corroborate with this statement
in the Quran. The Big Bang theory holds that about 20,000,000,000 (twenty
billion) years ago the universe began with an explosive expansion of a single
extremely condensed state of matter. This is what the Quran states in this
verse: “the heavens and earth were joined together”. The Noble prize for
Science in 1977 was awarded for this discovery.

These facts, only recently discovered by modern science, were disclosed in the
Quran 1,400 years ago.
 More than one world
The very first verse of the first chapter of the Quran is a miracle. It says:

“Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.” (The Quran, 1:1)

At a time when, perhaps, scientific knowledge was

not even at the nascent stage, the Quran revealed
about the presence of worlds other than the earth
and testified to the fact that, “Allah is the Lord of
the worlds”. As a matter of fact, the words, “the
Lord of the worlds”, appear in the Quran a total of
73 times. With scientific advancement and use of
sophisticated telescopes now we know that there are other planets and
multitude of galaxies besides earth. And all this was disclosed to us by the God
Almighty through his prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) 14 centuries ago.

THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE

According to the Holy Quran:

“And it is We who have constructed the heaven with might, and verily, it is
We who are steadily expanding it.” (51:47)

The word “heaven”, as stated in this verse, is used in various

places with the meaning of space and universe. Here again,
the word is used with this meaning.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian physicist

Alexander Friedmann and the Belgian cosmologist Georges
Lemaitre theoretically calculated that the universe is in
constant motion and that it is expanding.

From the moment of the Big Bang, the universe has been
constantly expanding at a great speed. Scientists compare the expanding
universe to the surface of a balloon that is inflated. Observing the sky in 1929
with a telescope also proved this fact. Edwin Hubble, the American astronomer,
discovered that the stars and galaxies were constantly moving away from each
other. These observations tell us that when everything in the universe moves
away from each other, it is considered to be a constantly expanding universe.
This fact was revealed in the Quran when no one knew about the expansion of
the universe 1,400 years ago. This is because the Quran is the word of Allah,
the Creator and the Ruler of the entire universe.

Sky, without any support

Due to lack of knowledge, Arab society, 1400 years ago, had many
superstitious beliefs regarding the earth and the sky.

They thought that the earth was flat and that the mountains were supporting
the sky above. They thought that there were high mountains at both the ends
of the world, working as pillars and those pillars held the sky hanging above.
However, all these superstitious beliefs were eliminated with the advent of the
Quran. The Quran says:

“God is He who raised up the heavens without any support…..” (Surah ar-rad, 2)

Thereby invalidating the belief that the sky remained suspended above
because of the mountains. How did the author of the Quran know about this
fact 1400 years ago? Indeed, Quran is the book of Allah, the Creator of the
heavens and the earth.
 Presence of sub-atomic particles
Recent discoveries in Physics have shown that an atom can be broken into
smaller units. According to the Holy Quran:

“The unbelievers say: Never to us will come the Hour (the day of Judgment);
Say: Nay! By my Lord! It will surely come upon you by Him, who knows the
unseen, not an atom’s weight, or less than or greater (than atom), escapes Him
in the heavens and/or in the earth, but it is in a clear record.” (34:3)

The Arabic word used in this verse is “Zarrah”.

Abdullah Yousef Ali, Mohsin Khan, and Marmaduke
Pickthal have translated Zarrah as an atom. At the
time this verse was revealed, a Zarrah was the
smallest known particle to mankind. The Quran
testifies to the presence of particles smaller than
Zarrah or an atom. The discovery of splitting of an
atom into smaller units does not relate to a very
distant past while the Quran had acknowledged this
fact 1400 years ago.