Islamic Studies (Islamabad) 28:1 (1989)

N O T E S 5 COMMENTS

BASIC CONCEPTS OF PHY SIC S IN THE

PERSPECTIVE OF THE QURAN
M . M . OURASHI
1. INTRODUCTION

The Muslim belief in an intimate connection between

scientific phenomena and the Quranic revelation stems from the
fact that science is a systematic study of the physicaVmateria1
universe, which has been created by the same Allah who revealed
the Qur'h and so there has to be a conceptual as well as a
factual correspondence between the two wherever they refer to the
same set of phenomena. We all know that the Qur'Zn is a book of
religious guidance for leading our daily lives in accordance with
the will of Allah, the one and only God, but it also serves to
induct us into the belief in Allah by inviting us to o b ~ w enatural
phenomena, to thinh and to pondelt over the various phenomena
occurring in the universe, as indicated by the ltepeahd use of the
words: unzmii (see, observe, 6:99; 399; 10:101), yaLq&n perceive,
45:4; 59:14; 36:68),' Yata6abhaltiina (3:191; 45:13). From the
repeated occurrence of these exhortations, some modern writers
have tended to represent the Qur'i31-1 as a book of Science and
consequently depict Islam as primarily a religion of science and
technology. There is thus a tendency to "find" a scientific
content, however far-fetched it may be, in almost every verse;'
for example in the book Phenomena 06 Nattwte and the Omanf and
occasionally even in Qmanic Science?lS. On the other side, there is
a group of commentators and the theologians who staunchly
maintain that the Qur'Zn is onPy a book of guidance for our
temporal and spiritual lives (as shown by the frequent references
to the Hereafter and the commandments for @.t, zahiif unity,
etc.) and who, like Ghazgli definitely separate* religious from
non-religious knowledge. Some attribute a philosophical or mystical
interpretation however far-fetched or obscure it may be to even
obvious numerical references in the Qur'Zn and Hadith. One can see
that both these are extreme positions, held mostly due to a poor
appreciation of the alternate view-point .
The fact of the matter is that, while the Qur'ih sets out to
provide a guidance to mankind for living a harmoniously productive
life, with a view to success in the Hereafter, it nevertheless makes
- --

*The paper is based in part on an earlier paper on t h e subject

read a t 2nd Inhltnatb'Id SemhUM on Qm'iin and Science, held a t
Karachi in June 1987.

© Dr Muhammad Hamidullah Library, IIU, Islamabad. http://iri.iiu.edu.pk/

56 Islamic Studies. 28: 1 ( 1989)

repeated references to various natural phenomena and historical

events, the descriptions of which mu& be truthful, precise and
correct i f they emanate from Allah, the Creator of the Universe
and the source of all knowledge. So, the interpretation of all such
statements and descriptions must, in the nature of things, tally
with the observed facts. As our observational knowledge grows, the
degfiee 04 comupondence should also incfieane rather than
decneane. As an example, take the following verse:

Who hath appointed for you fire from the green tree, and
behold! ye kindle from it. (36:80)
The classical meaning would be that of making fire by
burning wooden logs or by rubbing together two branches or twigs
vide the commentary of M. Shabbir Ahmad on the classical
translation of MaulZmB M w i i d al-Ijasan =.But the modern Scientist,
looking a bit deeper into natural phenomena, would say that i t
signifies all the fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, all of which
are produced from the decomposed parts of trees, plants, animals
and vegetation.

Similarly, in Siirah al-&idid ( L , g +&I u3!, ): And we : sent

down iron in which there is power (57: 251, in which the
implication of the words +dll,
U has become fully apparent only
through historical investigation of the earliest use of meteoric
iron. Such examples can be multiplied manifold from the Quranic
verses and the ahEcfZ& of the Prophet M~amrnad [$u& APfdhu
'&y& wa S&mj. These sorts of findings tend to make us more
firm in our faith and the hope that, as science progresses, its
theories would approach closer to the Quranic view, thus providing
considerable support for the rational basis of the lslamic religion,
which discourages obscurantism. While this does essentially
correspond with the stance adopted by Maurice Bucaille in his book
The Bibee, Qman and Science,' we must note that there is a subtle
difference between such phenomena whose description in the Qur'Zn
and Hadith fits with known laws of nature and those "miraculous
phenomena" like Abraham (staying alive in the fire, which imply
&mpofiaty ce&a.tion of normal physical laws. We shall amplify this
later in Section 5.

2. CONDITIONS FOR OBTAINING GUIDANCE

FROM THE QUR'AN
At all events, i t must not be forgotten that the Holy Qur'Zn
is not propounding a creed
.. of dependence or faith in Science and
Technology, any more tFih i t is countenacing a worship of the
benefits emanating from the sun, the moon or the stars. Quite the
contrary. The opening verses of Siirah al-Baqarah dkaaA3.j tcdf u:

1. Alif, LZm, Mim!

2. This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt, a
guidance unto thooe who wafid 044 [evifl;
Islanric Studies, 28:l (1989) 57

3. Who b&ve i n the O w e n , and e&abf& woahip, and

opend of that we have bestowed upon them;
4. And who believe in that which is revealed unto thee
(Maammad) and that which was revealed before thee,
and are certain of the Hereafter.
5. These depend on guidance from their Lord; These are
the successful. [QuR'dn, 2: 1-51

So, the Quran promises its guidance to those only who fulfil
the above minimum cequhemenh of Imdn, +&if and zabdt, i.e.
personal faith, congregational devotion and collective social
responsibility.

Again the Qur'k repeats for us the accounts of the

preachings of the various prophets of All* and their confrontation
with those who had great power (Pharoah), or wealth
(@riln/Korah), or craftsmanship (the people of Thamiid), or trade
(the people of Midian), etc., and in each case shows how they were
destroyed, d p h 2 06' possessing these material resources, because
of their c e 6 d t o b&ve in and follow the message of their
prophet, which was in each case based on belief in the unseen, i.e.
AllZh and his "hidden" systems. Thus, we ..learn that our salvation
here as well a s in the Hereafter does not lie in material goods and
power, but rather in learning to use these goods and powers in a
beneficent manner, in accordance with the commandments of Allah
and in the way completely exemplified by the life of Prophet
Mu+ammad and his Companions. Seen in this way, a life of
obedience to the Sunnah of the Prophet becomes a prce-4equiGte
for a Muslim's successful quest for knowledge, science and
technology with its resulting power, which he would use as an
amkah (trust) to serve mankind and 6d@the PuRpooe 06 Mah in:
(i) making man his khalifah (deputy) and (ii) making the Muslims a s
the Ummah chosen for the guidance of all humanity. Here, i t must
be noted that the Qur'Zn warns us against pinning our belief or
dependence on material resources, which will avail us naught unless
the help of Allah is with us, as demonstrated a t the battle of
uunayn (9:25) where the Muslims' elation with their numbers (6,000)
led to their reverse in the early part of the battle.

3. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Historians of science have, among other things, devoted
considerable attention to a study of the so-called "Scientific
Method" and its evolution over the centuries. In essence', i t may
be summed up in Table 1.
 58 Islanzic Studies. 28 :1 ( 1989)

-- -

TABLE 1 : ESSENTIALS OF TBE 'SCIENTIFICMETBOD

(i) Observation
(ii) Hypothesis
(iii) Experiment
(iv) Proof/~isproof
(v) Or a combination of these two, followed by
induction/deduction to give a new hypothesis.

The cycle in Table 1 from (ii) to (v) may then be repeated several
times (and in some cases over several centuries) for a closer
approach of the hypothesis to actual experiment i.e. observed
phenomena. It .is noteworthy that items (ii) and (v) are largely
subjective in character. Although the enunciation of this method
has often been attributed to Roger Bacon (17th century A.D./llth
century A.H.), yet the recent studies have shown that i t was
practised and put into clear words as early as the fifth century
Hijrah' by the renowned Muslim physicist, Ibn al-Haytham. Since
Item (ii) and (v) are largely subjective, this suggests a kegion 06
ove&p between science and religion depicted in the sketch of
Fig. 1, showing the possible inter-relationship be tween two systems,
A and B.

It is not without significance that this "Scientific method"

was delineated by a Muslim physicist, Ibn al-Haytham, because this
provides evidence for the strong bias in physical theory towards
the enunciation and clarification of basic concepts. In fact, the
earlier physicists were called Natural Philosophers, and the Quranic
precepts do provide a base1@ for the scientific temperament, see
Table 2. Let us now proceed to examine here what precisely is
physics.

4. THE NATURE OF PHYSICS

Physics has been variously described as:-

(i) "the study of the (physical) properties of matter and

energy," " or

(ii) the science "concerned largely with energy and i t s

transformations," in contrast with chemistry, which
"deals with matter and its transformations". "
 SPIRITUAL

\ MATERIAL

Fig. 1

POSSIBLE RELATION BETWEEN SYSTEMS 'A' % 'B'

A = Spiritual world / Experience
B = Physical or Material world / Experience
 TABLE 2

MAJOR QURANIC EXHORTATIONS

for Developing Attitudes Conducive to Science and Technology

A1 Fiitir Indeed the erudite among His bondsmen fear

(35:28) Allah.

Bani IsrBil Follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge.

(l7:36)

A1 Hujurlt If an evil-liver brings you tidings, verify it.

(49: 6 )

Al-'Imrgn And consider the creation of the heavens and

(3:191) the earth (and say): Our Lord! Thou createdst
not this in vain.

Al-RahmZm That ye exceed not the measure; but observe

(55:8-9) the measure strictly, nor fall short thereof.

Al21mrh 0 . 'ye who believe! Observe your duty to Allah

(3~102-103) with right observance, and die not save as
those who have surrendered (unto Him). And hold
fast all of you together, to the cable of Allah;
do not fall apart.

Al-JBthiyZh And hath made of service unto you whatsoever

(4513) is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the
earth; i t is all from Him. Lo! herein verily are
portents for people who reflect.
~slanricStudies, 28 :1 ( 1989 61

Both the above descriptions indicate that physics is concerned with

studying and explaining the nature and behaviour of energy and its
interactions with matter, which obviously involve concepts such as
mass, force, motion, distance, time, acceleration, as well as the
measurement of these quantities. In fact, since the earliest
recorded writing, physicists have been measuring and experimenting
with as well as speculating upon the nature of these and related
entitiedquantities, so that physics has sometimes in a derogatory
sense been called the science of accurate measurements. Of course,
i t is true that the advances in physics have frequently come from
the discrepancy observed between an established theory and the
results of more sophisticated and accurate experiments.
Nevertheless, fhe development 06 new and h~nprrovedc o n c e p a has
played an equally important role and, in some cases, provided a
revolution in outlook.

Take for example, the 18th century (Newtonian) physics,

which had systematized the existing empirical knowledge into sets
of equations or laws e.g. Newton's three laws of motion, Kepler's
laws of p k e t a r y motion, the inverse square law (of which the
laws of electrostatic interaction and magnetic interaction are
corollories) and the laws of heat flow and fluid flow. Altogether,
these provided such ari impressive array of quantified information
that some .scientists felt that, starting from the given set of
conditions, the 6-e COWof the physical universe was
com@te&j deh4mined -the so-called rnechaniatic v&w of the 19th
century. Yet i t must be remembered that while the concepts behind
some of these equations, viz. motion, mass, etc., were reasonably
clear and well-defined, those behind other equations e.g. heat flow
and radiation were far from clear.

Further study and analysis of these problem areas led to

fundamentally new approaches, like quantum mechanics, wave-
mechanics; while the older determinist concepts were finding their
way into the writings of philosophers and social scientists, these
new concepts were already evolving in directions quite different
from the determinist mechanistic view of the universe (and by
induction) of life. A still further and perhaps more drastic
conceptual change was introduced by Einstein's relativity theory,
which started out by explaining certain experimental discrepancies
through making time and length dependent on the velocity of a
moving system, but then went on to make even gravitational
phenomena an outcome of the distortions in the space-time
continuum.

5. PHYSICAL LAWS AND THE NATURE OF MIRACLES

Today these 4&Xiv& c o n c e p b are moving .into
phlP0~opttica.t and aociae U n c e thinking and writing, bringing scope
for a re-assertion of man's free will and the active and continued
intervention of a Living Creator. Nevertheless, the extent to which
62 Islanic Studies. 28: 1 (1989)

the mechanistic view still present-day western thinking

and living is indicated by the following anecdote from a recent
issue of Readel3 Digest:

A mother asked her little son what he had learnt in the

Sunday School. The son said he had learnt about the flight
of the lsraelites from Egypt. Moses, on learning that he was
being followed by the m i e s of Pharaoh, asked his engineers
to construct a bridge across the Nile. When Moses and his
men had safely crossed the river and Pharaoh's armies were
halfway across the bridge, Moses called for an air strike.
The bridge was destroyed and Pharaoh's armies were swept
away and drowned in the river.

The mother was amazed and said: "Are you sure this is what
they told you in Church?" "Mom, i f 1 told you what they
told us in the Sunday School, you will never believe it",
replied the son! IReadea Dig?&, 1965).

The moral is: the "modern scientific mind", with its Western
Education, is today incapable of grasping the fact that, over and
above the so-called laws of nature, Allah h d e t v e n w in the affairs
of men. He is the giver of all laws (natural, social or moral) and is
not bound or governed by them. The classical examples of miracles,
which have become part of history, are (1) Abraham staying alive
in the fierce fire lighted by Nimrod; (2) splitting of Red Sea by a
single stroke of staff of Moses; (3) the transformation of the staff
of Moses into a python; and ( 4 ) rejuvenation of Zulaykha. These
examples show that miracles are exhzoadinaay events, seen,
experienced and interpreted in religious context. Miracles may or
may not have a scientific or philosophical bearing. The significance
of a miraculous event is frequently held to reside not in the event
as such but in the reality to which i t points i.e., the Divine Power,
Allah The Almighty.

Consequently, miracles are also called portents of

Allah, which hold bell-bound every human being, irrespective
of his station in life; even now with the help of all
scientific progress, these miracles cannot be fully explained.
Thus, i t may be rightly concluded that the miracles, which
have become part of mankind's history, are not compatible
with the Known Lawh of Nature; only Allah, the Almighty,
has the power to alter these Laws as and when He
desires." On the othea hand, miraculous revelations of Holy
Qur'm do not contradict the Laws of Nature, the Quranic
miracles continue to be revealed with intellectual
development and scientific progress of mankind. The
discloske of Quranic miracles is not limited t o Muslims, they
are being dibcoveaed by o t h e a a we,@. In other words the
miraculous revelations of Qur'm Majeed are universal. The
beauty of Quranic miracles is that they keep on appearing
Islernic Studies. 28 :1 ( 19891 63

with greater socio-economic impact, their appearance is

associated with scientific researches and discoveries. For
revealing the miracles imbibed in Quranic verses man has
been made instrumental at every stage of the discovery. Man
has been enabled to verify the correctness and authenticity
of scientfic prophecies of the Qur'aby employing his
knowledge and scientific acumen and expertise.'+

In the light of the above classification, let us now take a

look at some instances of precise and revealing description of the
basic physical phenomena in the Qur'a.

6. THE CONCEPTS OF GRAVITATION LIGHT,

AND EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE IN THE QUR'AN
(i) Gravitational F ~ r c e : ' ~In the verses 25-26 of Sikah
d-Mu%dat, Almighty God has informed us in an enquiring way:
blYl . b u >g,yl &
J

"Have We not made the earth to draw together (pull) the

living and the dead"? (77:25-26).

The word~U(ka6at)means place where anything is gathered,

while + b u used here means to suddenly gathe4 thing^ or p& to-
gethe4: now-a-days it is called g m w .

The gravitational field, or gravity, of the earth is

manifested as the force acting on all the things and causing them
to move in the general direction of the earth's centre. This was
first confirmed and formulated by Newton by the end of 17th
century, while the idea of such a force was clearly indicated in
the Quran-several centuries before Newton gave this idea. In
fact, a quite detailed commentary on the nature of Gravitation can
be found in Maulana Rumi's Mathnawiac:

(ii) The Expansion of the Universe:" In Siirah al-Dh-liyat

i t is stated:

jp-4 ~ *$G+
I J ='-J!,

"We have built the heaven with (might of) hands, and We it
is Who make the vast extent (thereof) (51:47). ......"
-I-- (Samii' ) means roof, heaven (i.e.1 extra-terrestrial world,
while the word GFY (Mii3i'iin) means to expand, to extend, to make
more wide or more spacious. This verse indicates that our univem
& expanfig, which is confirmed by the latest discoveries of
64 Islamic Studies. 28: 1 (1989)

science. It has been observed that the galaxies are receding, which
is more obvious and noticeable in the case of far-off galaxies. The
use of the word $6 (with hands) is also noteworthy in that i t
implies a personal intervention of God, in addition to the order of
$ (Be) a t ti2e initial creation.

The scientists have implied from the recession of distant

galaxies that the universe is currently expanding: this expansion is
isotropic, that is, the same in all directions. The objects not too
distant obey Hubble's law, which states that the velocit of
expansion (Y) equals distance over time (TV=distance), where &
is
called Hubble's constant, which is estimated a t 2x10'' years-an
enormous time-span. Ultimately, of course, this expansion would
change into a contraction (see Sec.8).

(iii) Light fnrm Sun and hbon: It is stated in Siirah Yiinus:

L,i 4
1, 1& dill 9
.I+ 4
"He It is who appointed the Sun a splendour and Moon a
light" (1.05).

Almighty God while explaining the nature of "Light" from Sun

and Moon has used two separate words for it: the word .lr;. (&a9)
is used for light from Sun and JY (&) is used for light from Moon.
This suggests'' that the light from Sun and Moon are not of the
same type.

Now &a9 means light, brightness or gleam; while n& means

shine, to see glow in the distance, to take flight or flee (which
indicates reflection). This explains why two separate and distinct
words having different meanings are used for light from Sun and
Moon: the use of these two words indicates the degree of precision
of expression in describing the light from Sun as it is its own
original light, while light from the Moon is a / t ~ @ c t ~light.
d
Similarly, it is stated in Siirah al-N*:

u,"
4 1& , LY 44 1&,
And hath made the Moon a light therein, and made the Sun a
lamp (71:16).

In this i y a t , Sun is said to be Crlr (Sirajan) (i.e.1 lamp.

SiMj means burning wick, lighted lantern, lamp, candle stick,
chandelier, torch, etc. However, one must also note that, in other
places in the Qur'h the word 'niY is used in a different meaning
as e.g. in Siirah al-Niir v. 35: "Allah is the light (niir) of the
heavens and the earth. The similitude of His Light is as i f there
were a niche and within it a luminary, this luminary, is in a glass;
the glass is as if i t were a kawkab (planet)'' glittering like a
~slanzicStudies. 28 :1 ( 1989 65

pearl". "N*" in this verse is meant to refer to the intrinsic light

emanating from AllZh. So, the matter needs further study and
clarification, as M. Bucaille" has also observed that there is little
difference in meaning between "&@"' and "niirr".

What is important is that, in all matters concerning study of

the region of overlap between the Qur'h and Science, we should
emulate the example of the classical M*addithtin (The Scholars of
Prophet's Traditions) and UlamZ' and always remember the phrase
VIAL. +I A!, (We A&4ah a'hm bipe-+wab, and God knows what is
correct.) Our understanding of natural and super-natural phenomena
being so incomplete, that the attitude of over-confidence, rigidity
and stubbornness is absurd. It should not surprise us i f some of
what appears mysterious and super natural today may become
commonly understood phenomena tomorrow.
We next look a t another important physical concept, that of
time and distance, and examine how its fiehtive nature has been
taken note of in the Qur'h and Ijadith.

7. SCALES OF TIME AND DISTANCE IN

THE LIGHT OF QUR' AN
Religious philosophies have been concerned with five &&PO
of existence, three of which refer to the ante-natal phase, this
world, and heaven, respectively. The ante-natal scale and that in
this world are known; accordingly, we undertake a preliminary
exploration of the scales of time and space in heaven or in the
World to come, as described in the Quran and, the Ijadith.= It is
related that when the Companion of the Prophet heard the details
of heaven and hell from the Prophet, their belief was such that i t
would not have been increased one bit by the actual sight of what
was being described. Muslim relates that once, after enjoying
Prophet's company, Ijanzalah was sitting a t his house and talking to
his family when he suddenly realised the contrast between thisand
his sublime feelings in the presence of the Prophet, where they
were talking of the hereafter. The contrast was so sharp that he
felt that he was a hypocrite (munafiq). Accordingly he came out in
the street saying " Nadaqa Hanptkh." There he encountered AbC
Bakr $iddiq who asked why he was saying it. m n ~ a l a hreplied when
they were in the company of the prophet, listening to him
expounding the life of the hereafter, they felt as if all details of
Heaven and Hell were really bedofie fie& eqeo .in hfik
fie&@; but when he went back to his family and business affairs,
his condition changed. '

It thus follows that wherever the Qur'Fm and the Ijadith give
numerical details in the text, these wefie and afie to be believed as
precise statements of some fact, and not (as some would have i t )
merely taken figuratively. In fact, the Companions were simple and
literal-minded people, and their faith and actions were also
66 Islanic Studies. 28 :1 ( 1989)

straightforward and clear. First we take some well-known verse

from the various Sikahs of the Qur'b, two from -+I (32
and (22) the other from S k a h ,.dl (97) viz.
L L J l o > I L ,$ fx 2 +Jl Efl + >>YI Jl . U l y% +
, (\)
(0 :i d l ) jjh-

(f' : $1) b , L
~ L Jk Lx ,jl, (7)
(Y:>.dI)& J l 2,+JAl + (Y)
The first two tell us that a day (according to Allah) is like
one Thousand years in the reckoning of human beings. Taking the
mean of solar and lunar years, this gives a scale factor of
1000 x (360+5), i.e. 360,000 or approximately the ratio of 0.35
million between the heavenly and human time-scale.

The third one gives us some indirect information. It deals

with hea4f4atd-qad4 (the most blessed night in the month of
RamadZn), and tells us that it is worth more than one thousand
months. During this night, Allah's important angels come down to
the earth and proclaim His Blessings and Forgiveness; so that the
earth temporarily partakes of the features of Heaven. Taking the
night of special worship as extending from midnight to dawn i.e. 4
hours on the average, or one-sixth of a day, we obtain a factor of
lOOOx3Od 1/61, i.e. 1,8O,OOO or approximately -18 million which is
precisely one half of that obtained from the earlier verse (viz.
between a full day and a night). This can be reconciled by noting
the words P,+ (better than) in the third verse quoted above, so
that this also fits in with the previous estimated factor of 0.35
million.

Coming now to Apace or diatiznce, there are several

statements in the Qur'Bn and Uadith relating to this. Some are of a
relatively general nature, while others are quite specific. Thus for
example, we find:

but in a more quantitative ljadith of the Prophet i t is stated:

There are one hundred levels in Jannah (Heaven), and the

distance between successive levels is equal to the distance
between the earth and the sky I M h i i t d-Ma&@, Sifat al-
Jannah).
Taking sky to mean the first -L- (Sama') as in an earlier
paper,23 this would make the distance between levels equal to the
diameter of the solar system, i.e. about 100 million km. This is a
million time the normal distance between cities or provinces on
this earth, thus supporting a value of a million for the scale
factor. Another Ijadith tells us that there is a tree in heaven such
that its shadow would not be traversed by a horseman even in a
I s l d c Studies. 28 :1 ( 19891 67

100 years. This makes the height of the tree of the order of
100x365~50km-1.8 million km. which again indicates a scale factor
of the order of a million for length in Heaven. Then again, a t the
end of the ljadith describing the redemption of the last Muslim from
the pit of hell, we are told that he will be given a janvuxh or
garden that will be ten times the width/size of the earth. Taking
the circumference of the earth as 40,000 km. and the dimensions
of an average sized house and lawn (on earth) as about 100 m
each way, this gives us a factor of 400,000 which compares with
that found for the time-scale.

Thus, we can deduce from the above that there is a scale

factor of the oadea 06 hdd a d & n between the scales of k n g t h
in heaven and on earth. This is sufficiently close to the factor of
0.35 million deduced for the corresponding time-scale, from the
Qur'k and Hadith, to allow us to conclude that the two factors
may well be identical.24 If this is so, then one can readily
interpret these as the facets of the space-time (Lorentz-
Fitzgerald) contraction indicated by Einstein's Special Relativity
theory for a very high relative velocity (differing by 1 d s e c
from the velocity of light) that may be encountered n e m fhe
p ~ t i p h c ~06y fhe expanding-univeae model. The Qur'5n says:

They see the (day indeed as a far-off (event)); But we see

i t (quite) near. (70:6-7).

From the above verses it is obvious that ~ U &ameA

O 06
are being hinted at-one is the time-frame of this world in which
we live and the other is His time-frame.* What we would call a
thousand years may be nothing more than a day or a minute to
Him. Certainly, the Holy Qur'iin provides frequent hints about the
existence of time-relativity: what seems a long period of time to
us on this earth would be a short interval of time to God (Allah).
Maula2 %i has also dilate& upon some aspects of this relativity
of physical phenomena and their perception in his Mafhnaw.Zzc e.g.

8. PHYSICAL CONCEPTS IN COSMOLOGY

(a) The Seven Skies: Coming now to cosmology, we look a t
the concept of the GI- I.?labbaMmdwdf, seven skies) which has
been the subject of much discussion. Many of the explanations in
the commentaries of the Qur'Zn are, in fact, based on the old
Greek views of the planetary (perfect) spheres of motion. When
only 5 planets were known, the earth and moon were added to
make the (magic) number 7; when six were found, only the earth
was added. When seven were found, it was just fine! But the
68 ~slarnicStudies. 28 :1 ( 1989)

trouble began when an eighth was found and then a ninth in recent
times, thus making the identification of 'seven Skies' with planets
untenable. 50, another explanation h a to be found.

We see that a rational explanation has been provided in a

recent paper "which interprets the Quranic verse ~;t& p & dill
(6751, with" bt& directly meaning "layer upon layer", in conjunc-
tion with a Hadith of the Prophet reported by M. 'Abdul Malik
Madani, to showz7 that there exists a discrete set of entities
of sizes inmeaning successively i n .the mtio 04 a flat plain (limit
of vision, see Fig. 2) t 2 a halter ring i.e. about 20,000. The
first -L- (sky) is t h e n the solar system; the 2nd the s ~ t e r eof
nearest fixed stars (see Table 3) and the third corresponds to our
galaxy. (Fig. 3) The f0urth.L-(sky) contains numerous such galaxies
and corresponds to the (relativistic) limiting "r-?diuc" of the
observable 4-dimensional u n i v e r ~ e , ~ ' which may include the
presently debated Quaser! This still leaves .th.rree such entities
undiscovered. The Quran refers to seven &ni!a.rr ea4.thn
( &g , Y l , ) "and a s many earths" (65:12) i.e. in dec.rre&g
progression, and the above-mentioned Hadith then leads us to a
series of physical entities of geomeZtka98y dec.rre&g magnitude,
the 4th corresponding to the atomic radius and the 5th to the
radius of the nucleus (see Table 41, still leaving two sub-nuclear
stages undiscovered by physics, one of which may correspond to
the QuraksLg now being talked about! Thus the Quranic verses and
the Ijadith, taken together, provide a description of these major
macro and rnkro-entities in a language
- - understandable by a layman,
vide Tables 3 and 4. Further research may pssibly lead to
refinement. If the factor of 1:20,000 used in the progressions of
Table 3.

(b) Cmation and Doomsday: Another interesting cosmological

phenomenon is that of creation and doomsday, which has been
discussed in a very recent paper.' While the universe is presently
expanding, yet a t a certain stage, whole of the universe will begin
to contract and that will mark the start-up of the "Ultimate
doomsday". Culmination of this process would be in the "implosion"
of the contracting universe, which will also be the beginning of
the New Universe, possibly a much bigger creation of God. Fig. 4
illustrates the mechanism of this happening.

Process of rebuilding after the ultimate doomsday has been

promised in the Qur'Fm, in i t s following revelation:
&I; 15;51 IS, . .-L;j ~ J;I, ki+ u .& @I & .WI 6Jh; rJ!

The Day when We shall roll up the heavens as ( a recorder)

rolleth up a written scroll.
As We began the first creation, surely We shall repeat it.
( I t is) a promise upon US. LO! We are to perform it.
(21: 104)
 SURFACE
OF EAFm

Fig. 2
LIMIT OF VISION
I. = h (2R+h)
I= limit of vision
R = Ra&m of the Earth
h =height of observer's eye above earth's (Spherical) Surface

--
%Lac
System. etc.

FIG. 3
 1sleRic Studies. 28 :1 ( 1989

TABLE 3

ESTIMATED SIZES OF THE VARIOUS SKIES ( .L-

SERlAL ACTUAL PREDICTED

NO.

-1 2-3 KM (Limit of Vision) 1 KM

0 10,000 KM (Earth) 20,000 KM

1 300 x l o C KM (Solar System) 400 x l o C KM

2 4 LIGHT YEARS (Fixed Stars) 8 x 10lf KM = 1 L.Y. (Light years)

3 25,000 L.Y. (Galaxy) 20,000 L.Y.

RADIUS OF OBSERVABLE UNlVERSE 400 x l o C L.Y.

NOTE: The agreement is seen to be mostly within a factor of 2, as against

the ratio of 20,000.

Source: The T h u AtPad (London, 1986) pp. xvi-xxl, and G. Gamov, One, TWO,
Thee ......
ln6iniQ (New York: Viking, 1952)
(a) pp. 273, 277, 279, 283 and later refined data;
(b) pp. 127, 262 etc. and later refinements.
xslamic Studies. 28 :1 ( 1989)

TABLE 4

THE SEVEN EARTHS

(1) LIMIT OF HORIZON = 2 KM

(11) ( 10 CM, Which corresponds to various articles of everyday use.

(111) 5 x lo-* CM = 511 = Optical wave lengths (0.211 to 2011) and

Biological Macro-Molecules, Bacteria, etc.

(IV) 1 2.5 x lo-. C

M = 2.5 A: U. = Radii of the atoms.

(1V) ( 1.2 x 10-a* CM. = Radius of Nucleus.

Source: The T h u Ateao (London, 1986) pp. xvi-mil, and G. Gemov. One, Two,
Thee ......
Zn6initg (New York: Viking, 1952)
(a) pp. 273, 277. 279, 283 and later refined data;
(b) pp. 127. 262 etc. and later refinements.
Fig. 4. Phenomenon of first expansion and then contraction of universe:
"REMEMBER THE DAY,
WHEN WE SHALL ROLL UP THE HEAVEN
AS A RECORDER ROLLS UP A SCROLL,
LIKEWISE WE BEGAN THE FIRST CREATION,
SURELY WE ARE OC>INGTO REPEAT IT"
....21 (104).
I s l d c Studies. 28 :1 ( 1989 73

The created universe will not be a replica of the present

one, but a grand system of new heavenly bodies, possibly very
much bigger and different from the present one:
tl,j,, dd!,>JY~ 9 >JYI J+ L;X

....
Earth will be changed, to a different earth, And so will
...
be the heavens ( l4:48).

Based upon the observations of formation of galaxies,

expansion of universe, decay of matter and study of the behaviour
of the elementary particles, most scientists believe in a finite uni-
verse. In this regard the latest views were summed up in Geneva,
in the conference of cosmologists and particle physicists held in
November 1983, by the famous physicist Stephen Hawking of
Cambridge. He said, "What we look back on as the big bang, was a
time of very high but not infinite density, a state to which the
universe & prtecidePy fietwrn *ough c&p&@ after its present
expansion phase is over. a t of the high density phase, it will be
born again (with an exponential inflation phase), to repeat the
cycle and infiniturn"3 1.

In this high-density phase, the values of the so-called

physical constants are believed to be very different (by factors of
millions) from those we ordinarily know. That the p h y h d & Z W ~ as
we h o w them are not ~ m o d a n c tis already apparent from various
fields of physics and their ramifications into cosmological theory.
Not only this, but Fred Hoyle'ssz theory seems to require the
Apontaneow "creation" of small quantities of hydrogen in empty
space, thus pointing to a living God ( r S J l vJl d - f l a y y d-9ayyiim.
If we follow Allah's commandments, then He promises us His
helpwhether i t be t h o u g h the application of the known laws of
nature of whether it is h+&! of these laws.

T O hum up: the sources of knowledge are partly physical or

material, and partly intuitive or spiritual. To be truly useful to
mankind, a synthesis of information from these t w o sources is
required today. In this process, the interpretation of empirical
facts and phenomena would gain in depth and impact from the
Quranic statements and the I j a C ~ t h . ~ ~
 I s l a i c Studies. 28: 1 (1989

NOTES AND REFERENCES

Acknowled~ents:
- The author is indebted to Dr. S.M. Tafar, Dr. M.K. Masud.
Dr. S.M. Bhutta and other colleagues for discussions and
helpful suggestions in compiling and revising this paper.

Ghulam Jilani Barq, "Qur'Zn awr Science", Sayylvlh U&?& 14th

Century Hijri No., (1981) pp. 333-335.
Abdul Wadood, Phenomena 06 N a W e and the Q ~ ' 6 n , (Lahore, 1971
P
Afzalur Rahman, Q m n i c Sciencw (London: MusIim SchooIs Trust,
19811.
This sort of separation has been developed into an "anti-science"
cult, as for example in some religious interdicts on the study of
science, and even English, a hundred years ago.
See discussion of 'Ilm' by Mehdi Gulshani in The H d y Q m n and the
Science 06 N a W e (Tehran; Islamic Propagation Organization. 1986).
204 pp.
The HoIy Quran, Urdu translation and Tafsir by Mahmud Hasan and
Shabbir A. Uthmani. Bijnaur. Madina Press. 1935).
Maurice Bucaille, The .l(ibOe, The Q m n and Science, Translated from
French by A.D. Pannell and the author; Karachi; (Aisha Bawany
Trust, 1979).
Art. "Scientific Method," M c k w - U i & Encyclopaedia 06 S k n c e and
Technofogy, Volume XII. 1971. pp. 102-104.
Moharnmad Saud, Pt:.D. Thesis on lbn al-Haytham, and monograph
entitled T&m and Ev&tion 06 Science, (Islamabad, Islamic Research
Institute. 1986).
M.M. Qurashi and S.M. Jafar. S.T. & D. (1986) Vol. 5. No. 6, pp.
7-14.
E.B. Uvaron, D.R. Chapman, Alan lsaacs, "Physics," A Dktiona4y 06
Science (London; The English Language Book Society and Penguin
Books, 5th edition, .1979), p. 323.
S. Glasstone, EQementd 06 Phyaicd Chem&q (London: MacMillan and
Co. Ltd. 1st. Edition. 19551, p. 1.
However, we may in this context also make reference to recent
studies in extra-sensory perception, Parapsychology and related
topics, which suggest a definite possibility of divine hteavention
through spiritual influence.
M. Azeem, "Homey Bee: The Winged Bounty", S c i 6 Tech. h T&mic
WOM(1988) Vol. 6, pp. 99-105.
S.M. Bhutta, "The Quran as a guide for the development of S & T"
paper read at lntemational Conference on Science in Islamic Polity,
Islamabad (1983): Papers, Vol. 1, p. 139-147.
Shibli Nu'mFinl, S a w a 4 MaurPiimi Rum (Lahore: Majlis Taraqqi-i-Adab,
19611, p. 237:
Bhutta, op. ut.
TM.
Kawkab is identified as planet by Bucaille in his book on p. 157.
See above note 5.
TM. p. 155.
M.M. Qurashi & M. Saud "The Scales of Time and Space in Heaven
and the World to come," P ~ o c .Pak. Acad. S c i (1980) Vol. 17, pp.
..
125-131.
Vide Mawlana Zakariya. @iyBt-i-$zhBbah (Lahore: Katub Khanah-i-
Faydi, 1983). pp. 40-41.
~ l l a w i cStudies. 28 :1 ( 1989) 75

M.M. Qurashi, "Discrete Orders of Magnitude of Various Types of

Natural Phenomena", Pakhtan J. Sci. (1970) Vol. 22, pp. 300-302;
based on ijadith reported by M. Abdul Malik Madani.
See above note 21. Private Communication from Mawlana 'Ubayd
Allah, Basti Nizamuddin, Delhi.
Z.M. Ahmed, Sci. 6 Tech. h Ioeamk WoM (1986) Vol. 4, pp.
213-216.
Vide Raziuddin Siddiqi. "Scientific Anticipations in Mawlana Rumi's
Mathnawi," Journal of the Pakhtan AMochtion 06 H i a t o ~ and
Phihophy 06 Science (February - March, 1989).
See note 22.
It is interesting to note here that the narration of Ibn 'AbbHs
commenting on the seven skies and seven earths, suggests the
existence of several universes/earths, each possibly populated with
its own living beings. See Shabbir A@nad 'Uthrnani's commentary
op. tit, of the Qur'Zn (65121, p. 726.
M.M. Qurashi, "The Seven Skies-from Quasers to Quarks" in
Quaanrr&uda, Apr. 1988.
S.B. Mahmud, Sci 6 Tech. in 72kmir WOM (1986) Vol. 4, pp. 67-84.
S. Hawking, "Symposium of Cosmologists and Particle Physicists"
(Geneva: CERN. and S.E. Observatory. November 1983). as reported in
New Scientibt, 100 (1983). 1388 (Dec. 15). pp. 814-15.
F. Hoyle. N a u e 06 the Uniyeue (Pelican)
Qwmnir Ayaat Containing Re6eaence~to Science and Technobgy M.M.
Qurashi, S.M. Bhutta and S.M. Jafar. S.W.C.T. and P.S.F. (1987). 99