Qur’an and the Creation of the Universe
AGE OF THE UNIVERSE IN THE QURAN
Allah in Quran mentions that the universe in its current form has been created in 6 periods (note that the Arabic word for “days” (Yom) also means “periods”)
· Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six days. [Quran 7:54]
· And indeed we created the heavens and the earth and all between them in six days. [Quran 50:38]
· Verily your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days [Quran 10:3]
· He is Who created- the heavens and the earth in six Days [Quran 11:7]
· He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between, in six days, [Quran 25:59]
· It is Allah Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, .in six Days. [Quran 32:4]
· He is Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, [Quran 57:4]
Allah has also said in Quran that the Earth and everything that He created in its current form has been in existence for 2 periods:
· Say, “Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days. [Quran 41:9]
When the Quran [Quran 50:38] says that Allah created the Universe and the Earth and Everything in between them (including humans and all other things presently on Earth) in six days, this means that the Quran is referring to the period of existence. That means that in the distant future, the Quran would say that Allah created the universe and the earth and all that is between them (what will become between them) in 7, or 8, or 9 periods and so on. In other words, this is similar to Carl Sagan’s 12-month cosmic calendar.
At the time of the Quranic revelation (everything in between the universe and earth), the universe has existed for 6 periods. And the Earth (which is contained in the universe) has existed for 2 periods out of the 6. This makes the Earth be 2/6th (1/3rd) of the age of the universe.
Modern cosmology estimates that the universe is 13.7 billion years old and that the Earth is 4.54 billion years old. 4.54/13.7 is roughly 1/3rd. So according to modern cosmology, the Earth should be rough 1/3rd the age of the universe. This cosmological finding interestingly complements the Quran! Why did the Quran accurately say Earth was created in 2 periods? Why did it give the correct ratio? How did an unlettered prophet know such a thing?
Now, let’s turn our attention to another set of verses:
· “And He placed on it [i.e., the earth] firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures] sustenance in four days without distinction — for [the information of] those who ask.” [Quran 41:10]
Notice how the Quran used the word “and” rather than “then”. This means these two statements are not successive events, it means that: while the mountains were being placed over the earth’s surface, He SWT in meantime determined therein its creatures within 4 days (periods). See the picture below:
In the next verse of the same surah, Allah used the word “then” which represents the successive event:
· “Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and the earth, “Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion.” They said, “We have come willingly.” [Quran 41:11]
Now, the Quran uses the word “then” that is: after Allah determined the provision of the Earth in 4 days, he made the Earth and the Heaven come together. This is also very interesting in its cosmological accuracy. The Earth formed through an accretion process whereby stardust collapsed in itself due to the force of gravity which led to the birth of our planet. Subhan’Allah!
Here is a video describing the process. Note the smoke/dust and the primitive Earth coming together just as the Quran described with stunning accuracy:
In another verse of surah al-Baqarah, Allah mentioned the successive event:
· It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things. [Quran 2:29]
In this verse, Allah used the Arabic word (“Thumma”) which means “Then”. This verse is again very stunning in its careful accuracy. This verse said that Allah had created ALL that is IN the Earth and THEN made the several heavens! Indeed, all the matter on earth originated from the big bang before the universe grew to its size. SubhanAllah!
The word “seven” in Arabic can also mean “several” not necessarily a number (7) and the word “heavens” may refer to only the proximal sky/atmosphere. Words often have multiple meanings in Arabic and as such this verse could be a reference to one of those meanings and another verse that uses the same word may be a reference to another meaning of the word depending on the context. Also, note the Quran does have some vague statements in it as well and their true interpretation may not be known to us.
Ref.: Carl Sagan’s 12-month cosmic calendar:
Detailed Explanation of Carl’s Cosmic Calendar.
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Calendar
Related Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShTxGumvbno&ab_channel=NationalGeographic
COMPARISON OF ALLAH’S DAY WITH OURS:
We are so limited beings as compared to the creator of this universe and even if we compare to other creations of Allah that we know from the hadith and Quran (angels, jinn, etc.), we will find ourselves so limited. Likewise, if compare our calculations of time, space and other things, our calculations are so different from the calculation of other beings and the creator of this universe, Allah.
For example, we calculate a day equals the time earth takes to rotate around its axis. It means that our day calculation is limited to the rotation of the earth. Likewise, our year is equal to the time earth takes to complete its circle around the sun, which again limits the calculation of our year. Whereas if we go beyond the solar system, into the vast space, time calculation is so extensive that we are still unable to compare it with ours (for example light year).
If this is the level of difference between our calculation and other celestial bodies, imagine how different and vast would be the difference of our calculation with the calculation of Allah, who is the creator of everything (seen and unseen, known and unknown)
Allah sheds some light on this topic, trying to explain the difference between our day and what Allah counts as a day:
· “And they urge you to hasten the punishment. But Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count.” [Quran 22:47]
This shows that we human beings are unable to calculate or compare or even imagine the calculation of Allah, we can only know what He lets us know.
SubhanAllah!
VASTNESS OF ALLAH’S CREATION
Our Earth is 4.543 Billion years old and the first Man (Adam A.S) stepped on earth 209,000 years ago (according to the claim of UK Scientists on 23 Jan 2014). Since then, human beings are continuously discovering what is on the Earth and around it. And amazingly, according to the NOS National Ocean Service US just the 20% (or less) of the Word Oceans of 2019 is discovered and of which just 5% have been discovered in detail, 70% of the earth's surface is covered by Water, rest 80% and above is still undiscovered, unmapped, unexplored, and unobserved. And in total, 65% of the earth is unexplored according to Sentient Media
1 Thousand = 1,000
1 Million = 1,000,000
1 Billion = 1,000,000,000
1 Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000
Earth orbits the sun at the speed of 108,000 km/hour (30 km/sec) which is about 60 times the speed of a bullet and our Earth travels 924 million km every year. At the same time, Earth and our Solar System are moving in space at the speed of 720,000 km/hour (200km/sec) Allah Hu Akbar.
Sun is about 106 times bigger than the Earth and about 1.3 Million earth’ can fit inside the Sun, and the distance from the earth to the sun is 150 Million km and yet we feel such heat on sunny days. Earth rotates around its axis at the speed of 1609 km/hour that is responsible for the shift of day and night, and if the earth slows down its revolving speed by just 321 km, the days will be hotter and the nights will be colder to death as the time for day and night will be extended.
A light-year is a distance travelled by light in 1 year and light travels at the speed of 299,792 km/sec and in 1 year it will travel 9,500 Trillion km (9,500,000,000,000 km) approx. Our Solar System is 26,000 light-years from the centre of the galaxy Milky Way. Alpha Centauri is the nearest star system within our Galaxy that is 4.36 light-years (4.36 x light year = 4,124,560,000,000 km) away from us and if we travel in the fastest satellite Voyager 1 at the constant speed of 62,000 km/hour (59 secs will it take to reach Karachi from Lahore), it will take 76,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri.
It was believed that only the earth and planets orbit the sun whereas, the sun stays in its place. Scientists have now discovered that not only planets, but the sun is travelling at an unmeasurable speed in this enormous space. Here is the link to the video explaining the Vortex movement of planets and all other extra celestial bodies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jHsq36_NTU&ab_channel=DjSadhu
This fact was mentioned by Allah 1400 years ago in [Quran 39:5]
“He created the heavens and earth in truth. He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. Unquestionably, He is the Exalted in Might, the Perpetual Forgiver.”
SubhanAllah!
Now let’s see the size of this universe by size comparison of the objects that revolve in our Galaxy and the size comparison of the objects that hold still at the centre of the galaxies unless something catastrophic happens (like the collision of galaxies) called black holes, it includes multi-sized Comets and Meteoroids, Planets, Planet Moons/ Natural Satellites, Stars, Black Holes, Nebulas and Galaxies that count in zillions all in different and many unmeasurable sizes at unmeasured able distances, all these in one/universe. There is a new concept of multiverse according to scientists which say that there are many more like our universe, which is mentioned 1400 years ago in Quran 1:2 “All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds/multiverse” the word universe/world in Arabic is called “عالم”, and in this Arabic verse Allah has used the plural version of universe — multiverse/worlds “اَلْعَالَمِينَ”. This word cannot be translated to the word heavens in English, because the word “السماوات” is used for the heavens.
CONCEPT OF SEVEN HEAVENS:
In all religions of the world, there is a concept that 7 heavens/skies. Islam has a deep belief in this matter and Allah has mentioned it many times in Quran we can find this concept in Hadith literature as well.
Quran:
· “[And] who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return your vision [to the sky]; do you see any breaks?” [Qur’an 67:3]
· “It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself1 to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.” [Qur’an, 2:29]
Hadith Literature:
the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) described the size of the heavens; the first heaven, as compared to the second, is similar to a small _ring_ in the desert, and he continued this narrative until he described the sixth heaven as being the size of a ring in the desert compared to the seventh heaven. Also, the Prophet (SAW) said, “The seven heavens are concerning the Kursiyy [Footstool or Minor Throne] like a ring thrown into a waterless desert. And the superiority of the `Arsh [(Major) Throne] over the Kursiyy is like the superiority of the desert over that ring.”
Abu Dharr al-Ghifārī said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:
“The seven heavens in comparison to the Kursī is nothing but like a ring thrown in a desert, and the excellence of the ʽArsh (Throne of Allah) over the Kursī is like the excellence of that desert over that ring.”
It was narrated that Ibn Mas’ood (RA) said: “Between the first heaven and the one above it is (a distance of) five hundred years. Between each of the heavens is (a distance of) five hundred years. Between the seventh heaven and the Kursiy is (a distance of) five hundred years. Between the Kursiy and the water is (a distance of) five hundred years, and the Throne is above the water. Allah is above the Throne, and nothing whatsoever of your deeds is hidden from Him.” (narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah in al-Tawheed, p. 105; by al-Bayhaqi in al-Asmaa’ wa’l-Sifaat, p. 401)
Hadith Interpretation:
One interpretation of “heavens” is that all the stars and galaxies (including the Milky Way) are all part of the “first heaven”, and “beyond that six still bigger worlds are there,” which have yet to be discovered by scientists.
1. The first heaven is described as being made of water and is the home of Adam and Eve, as well as the angels of each star.
2. The second heaven is described as being made of white pearls and is the home of Yahiya (John the Baptist) and Isa (Jesus).
3. The third heaven is described as being made of iron (alternatively pearls or other dazzling stones); Joseph/Yusuf A.S and the Angel of Death (named Azrael in some traditions) are residents there.
4. The fourth heaven is described as being made of brass (alternatively white gold); Idris (conventionally identified with Enoch) and the “Angel of Tears” resides there.
5. The fifth heaven is described as being made of silver; Aaron and the “Avenging Angel”[who?] hold court over this heaven.
6. The sixth heaven is described as being composed of gold (alternatively garnets and rubies); Moses can be found here.
7. The seventh heaven, which borrows some concepts from its Jewish counterpart, is depicted as being composed of divine light incomprehensible to the mortal man (alternatively emerald). Abraham is a resident there and Sidrat al-Muntaha, a large enigmatic Lote tree, marks the end of the seventh heaven and the utmost extremity for all of God’s creatures and heavenly knowledge.
Reference: Sunan an-Nasa’i 450
In-book reference: Book 5, Hadith 3
