The Quran On The Growing Universe And The Big-Bang Concept
Hubble’s Law
For centuries, astronomers wrestled with basic questions in regards to the universe. Until the very first 1920’s, it was considered that the universe had always been around; also, that the size of the universe was fixed rather than changing. However, in 1912, the United states astronomer, Vesto Slipher, made a discovery that would soon change astronomers’ thinking about the universe. Slipher, observed that the galaxies were moving from the earth at huge velocities. These findings provided the first evidence giving support to the expanding-universe theory.
In 1916, Albert Einstein formulated his complete Theory of Relativity that suggested that the universe must be whether expanding or contracting. Verification of the expanding-universe theory finally was available in 1929 in the hands of the well-known American astronomer Edwin Hubble.
By observing redshifts within the light wavelengths emitted by galaxies, Hubble discovered that galaxies were not fixed in their position; on the other hand, they were actually leaving us with speeds proportional for their distance from earth (Hubble's Law). The only real explanation for this observation was that the universe needed to be expanding. Hubble’s discovery is undoubtedly one of the greatest in the history of astronomy. In 1929, he published the velocity-time connection which is the basis of modern metaphysics. In the many years to come, with further observations, the expanding-universe concept was accepted by scientists and astronomers similar.
Surprisingly well before telescopes had been even invented and well before Hubble published his Law, Prophet Muhammad used to recite a verse of the Holy Quran to his companions that ultimately stated that the universe is growing.
“And the heaven We created with might, and indeed We are (its) expander.” (Quran 51:47)
During the time of the revelation of the Quran, the word “space” was not known, and people used the word “heaven” to refer to what lies over the Earth. In the above verse, the term “heaven” is referring to space and the known universe. The verse explains that space, and thus the universe, is literally expanding, just as Hubble’s Law states.
That the Quran mentioned such a fact hundreds of years before the invention of the first telescope, at a time when there was ancient knowledge in science, is considered remarkable. This is much more so considering that, like many people in his time, Prophet Muhammad happened to be illiterate and simply could not have been aware of such facts by himself. Could it be that he had truly received divine disclosure from the Creator and Originator of the universe?
The Big-bang Theory
The big-bang theory states that around 12-15 billion years ago the universe was introduced from one single extremely hot and dense point, and that something caused the explosion of this point that contributed to the beginning of the universe. The universe, since then, has-been expanding with this single point.
Later, in 1965, radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson made a Noble prize-winning discovery that confirmed the Bing Bang concept. Prior to their discovery, the idea implied that if the single point from where the universe came into life was initially incredibly hot, then remnants of this heat should-be found. This remnant heat is really what Penzias and Wilson found. In 1965, Penzias and Wilson discovered a 2.725 degree Kelvin Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB) that develops through the universe. Thus, it was recognized that the radiation found was a remnant of the early stages of the Big Bang. Presently, the Big Bang theory is acknowledged by the vast majority of scientists as well as astronomers.
Cosmic History Explorer Data
A microwave map of the remaining from the Big Bang that gave birth to the universe. (Courtesy: NASA)
It is mentioned in the Quran:
“He (God) is the Originator of the heavens and the earth…” (Quran 6:101)
“Is not He who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the likes of them? Yes; and He is the Knowing Creator. His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.” (Quran 36:81-82)
The above verses prove about the universe had a beginning, that God was behind its creation, and all that God needs to do inorder to create is to say “Be,” and it is. Could this be a description as to what triggered off the explosion that brought about the start of the universe?
The Quran also mentions:
“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, then We separated them, and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?” (Quran 21:30)
Muslim scholars who possess explained the previous verse mention that the heavens and earth were once one, and then God caused them to separate and form inside seven heavens and Earth. Yet, due to the restrictions of science and technology during the time of the revelation of the Quran (and for centuries to follow), no scholar was capable of giving much detail about how exactly the heavens and earth were made. What the scholars could explain was the precise concept of each word in Arabic in the verse, as well as the overall concept of the verse.
In the prior verse, the Arabic words ratq and fataq are used. The word ratq are translated into “entity” “sewn to” “joined together” or “closed up”. The specification of these translations all circulate around something which is mixed and that has a separate as well as distinct existence. The verb fataq is translated into “We unstitched” “We clove them asunder” “We separated” or “We have opened them”. These definitions imply that something comes into being by an action of splitting or tearing separate. The sprouting of a seed through the soil is a good example of a similar example of the meaning of the verb fataq.
With the development of the Big Bang theory, it soon became clear to Muslim scholars your details mentioned with regards to the idea go identically hand in hand with the definition of the creation of the universe in verse 30 of chapter 21 of the Quran. The idea states that all the matter in the universe was introduced from one single extremely hot and dense point; that exploded and caused the beginning of the universe, matches what is mentioned in the verse that the heaven and Earth (thus the universe) where once joined collectively, and then split apart. Once again, the only possible description is that Prophet Muhammad had truly received divine revelation from God, The Creator and Originator of the universe.
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