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The
cosmos is mentioned in 310 Qur’anic verses.
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The cosmos is collectively referred to in the Glorious Qur'an
under the term "heavens and earth", or simply
"heavens" and sometimes in the singular form
"heaven, firmament or sky". Such reference is made in
310 Qur'anic verses (190 in the plural and 120 in the singular
form) to describe certain characteristics of the universe,
successive stages in its creation, its final destruction and
annihilation, as well as its recreation.
These
cosmic verses intervene the main message of this divine
revelation, as a vivid testimony to the unlimited might, knowledge
and wisdom of the Creator (s.w.t). They are not meant to be pieces
of scientific information per se, as science is left for man to
gain over a long span of time through careful observation and/or
experimentation, followed by rational conclusion. Nevertheless,
the Qur'an being the word of the Creator (s.w.t.), and the cosmos
being His creation, such cosmic Qur'anic verses must convey the
absolute truth about areas that cannot possibly be placed under
the direct observation of man, such as the creation, annihilation
and recreation of the universe.
Mixtures
of Truth and Fallacy
Consequently,
early speculations about the origin of the universe in pre-Islamic
civilizations, had glimpses of some facts borrowed from the
successive divine revelations, but highly mixed with mythological
assumptions and illusionary visions. An example for this mixture
of truth and fallacies in polytheistic civilizations is the
ancient Egyptians' concept about the creation of the earth.
This
concept is symbolized in their legacy by drawing "Chou"
(the mythological God of air), son of A'amoun Ra'a (the fictitious
God of the Sun) in a position where he is separating his sister
"Nutt" (symbolic for the heaven) from his brother "Kepp"
(who stands for the earth). The concept of separating the earth
from the rest of the universe is apparently a divinely revealed
fact that was completely distorted in the ancient Egyptian
mythology under the influence of deviation from monotheism to
polytheism.
Similarly,
in the ancient Indian civilization, a cosmic nucleus (or Golden
Egg) that symbolizes the origin of the universe was believed to
have emerged from water.
However,
the Noble Qur'an forcefully invites man to observe the universe
rationally with discernment, and analyze the data collected from
such observation critically with meticulous assessment. It is only
through such scientific questioning of the universe that man can
discover the laws of creation, and apply them correctly for the
proper fulfillment of his vicegerency on earth. This can be
achieved by the successful development of man, his faculties and
knowledge, and of life in general, as well as by rational
reflection on the supremacy of The Creator, and hence the willful
submission to His glory, peacefully and lovingly in worshipping
and obedience.
An
Ever-Expanding Universe
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"And
the firmament We have verily built with might, and verily we are
expanding it*" |
The discovery of the perfect concordance between the Qur’anic
descriptions of the universe and its established facts can be a
very convincing proof for the divine nature of the Qur'an and the
authentic prophethood of Mohammad (p.b.u.h.). Not only this, but
the Qur'an can be a guiding light in the area of cosmogenic
interpretations, because this is an area that can never fall
directly under human observation, despite the abundant traces for
the successive stages of creation which are still preserved in
outer space.
Out
of the 310 Qur'anic verses where the cosmos is mentioned, at least
166 carry evident cosmological and cosmogenic implications. One
such verse describes the expanding nature of the universe.
The
Qur'an reads:
æÇáÓãÇÁ
ÈäíäÇåÇ ÈÃíÏ æÅäÇ áãæÓÚæä - ÓæÑÉ
ÇáÐÇÑíÇÊ
"And
the firmament We have verily built with might, and verily we are
expanding it*" (51:47)
Early
commentators on the Holy Qur'an saw the significance of this verse
in the context of the amazing vastness of the universe, and in the
fact that whoever could make it that vast, is definitely capable
of making it even much more enormous, extending its limits
outwardly much further, and this is very true.
However,
after centuries of keen observations, and numerous hypotheses,
theorems and interpretations, the American astronomer Vesto M.
Slipher noticed in 1912 that, except for a few nearby systems such
as the Andromeda galaxy, the spectral lines from the rest of the
galaxies were shifted toward longer (red) wavelengths. This shift
in wavelength, caused by the Doppler effect, showed that most
galaxies were receding from ours (the Milky Way) at several
hundred kilometers per second.
In
1929, another American astronomer, Edwin Powell Hubble, noticed
that the more remote the galaxy, the higher was its recession
velocity. This important relationship has become known as
the law of the red shifts, or Hubble's law. It states that the
recession velocity of a galaxy is proportional to its distance.
The ratio of the recession velocity of a galaxy to its distance
(generally known as the Hubble constant) is now estimated to be
between 50 and 100 km/sec per megaparsec (1 megaparsec = 1 million
parsec, and 1 parsec = 3.258 light years). After
discovering this cosmic phenomenon of red shift, there was no
other plausible explanation for it except the implication that our
universe is indeed steadily expanding.
Because
galaxies in all directions seem to recede from our own galaxy, it
might be wrongly concluded that the Milky Way is at the center of
the universe. This is not true, as one can imagine a balloon with
evenly spaced dots painted on its outer surface. As the balloon is
blown up, an observer on each spot would see all the other spots
expanding away from it, just as observers from earth see all the
galaxies receding from the Milky Way. This analogy provides
a simple explanation for Hubble's law: the universe is expanding
like a balloon.
This
simple cosmological fact, which was deduced from the red shift
phenomenon less than 70 years ago, had already been explicitly
mentioned in the Holy Qur'an 14 centuries earlier. This long
precedence of the Qur'an to thousands of scientists who spent many
centuries of astronomical observations and research using
sophisticated equipment and elaborate physical properties and
mathematical calculations, is a living testimony to the divine
purity of this last revelation and to the authenticity of the
propethood of Mohammad (peace be upon him) who received and passed
it in its divine purity.
The
established fact that our universe is steadily expanding is so
vital for both its physical existence and survival, that it
becomes well deserving to be mentioned in the Illustrious Qur'an
as one of the great signs of The Creator (S.W.T.). Not only this,
but for our universe to be steadily expanding at such fantastic
rates without losing its coherence is one of the most striking and
most fascinating aspects of our existence.
Dr. Zaghlool
El-Naggar is a Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences. Member of the Geological Society of London, the Geological Society of Egypt and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fellow of the Institute of Petroleum, London. Prof. Naggar is the author/co-author of many books and more than 40 research papers in the field of Islamic Thought, Geology, General Science and Education. He was awarded by the Ministry of Education in Egypt the top “Secondary Education Award” as well as the seventh Arab Petroleum Congress Best Papers Award in 1970. Elected a member of the IAS Council (1994 and 1999), Prof. Naggar is currently working at the Arab Development Institute.
