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Thursday, June 14, 2018

Big Bang in Quran and expansion of the universe

The-Quran-and-Science

What do you believe about the size of the universe? Do you think it is fixed right from the start or expanding and it has been there forever? Does the universe have an edge somewhere or it goes on forever? I'm gonna discuss this topic in light of the discoveries astronomers have in the early nineteenth century and the information the Quran has given us 1400 years ago.

Scientists and astronomers tussled with the question regarding the size of the universe. Before the 19th century, it was believed that the universe has a fixed size and it has been there forever. With the advancement of science and technology, this concept about the universe suddenly started changing in the early 19th century. 

In 1912, Vesto Slipher, the American astronomer, made a discovery that would soon change the old misconception about the universe. He noticed the galaxies were moving away from our earth. His findings introduced the concept of universe expansion theory.

Then in 1916, Albert Einstein gave his theory of relativity. In this theory of relativity, Einstein said that the universe must be either expanding or contracting. Again, this theory helped in changing minds about the universe.

And finally, in 1929, Edwin Hubble, a great well known American astronomer, confirmed the expansion of the universe through his giant telescope. (Edwin Hubble is considered as the leading observational cosmologist of the 20th century because of his exceptional work in astronomy. He was born in 1889 and died in 1953).

With the help of giant telescopes, light coming from distant objects was observed as a function of wavelength. Through various observations, it was noticed that the spectra of light from distant objects was shifting to longer wavelength, called “Redshift”. It meant that the objects under consideration were constantly moving away from us. By observing the “Redshift” Hubble concluded that the galaxies were not fixed in their position but they were moving away from earth.

Galaxy

He realized that further away a galaxy was, the bigger was the “Redshift” of the light. That meant those galaxies were moving away from us at faster and faster speed. It’s not only that galaxies are moving apart, it’s the fact that the entire universe is expanding. Edwin Hubble plot a graph between redshift and relative distance, he found a linear relationship between the two. It also meant that the redshift would increase with increasing distance to the objects. This decrease in the wavelength of light coming from an object was due to the fact that it was getting further away from us and based on this observation, it was concluded that the universe was expanding.


After analyzing the discovery of Science, we’re going to see what the Quran says about it.

Quite surprisingly, 1400 years ago when there was no telescope and the knowledge of science was not in existence, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would recite a verse of the Quran which signed towards the expansion of the universe.

“And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are (its) expander”.
[Quran (51:47)]
Now, I suggest you take your time and think justly: is it possible for a man, who lived 1400 years ago and who happened to be illiterate, to know this fact on his own, which science could do only 100 years ago. Can you accept it? Off course not, unless he had received divine revelation (Quran) from Someone who is all-knowing and the Creator of the universe. It simply proves that the Quran is the book of the GOD.

After, it was understood that the universe was expanding; scientists realized that it would have been smaller in the past. If we go back in the past, then at some point, it would have been a single point. This point is understood as the beginning of the universe, called Big Bang.

The big bang theory states that the universe originated billions of years ago in an explosion from a single point which had nearly infinite energy density. It means all the matter in the universe was concentrated into a single incredibly tiny point which suddenly started expanding and it is still expanding today.

The Quran says:
“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)]

It clearly shows that the heavens and earth were once one, and then God caused them to separate into the seven heavens and earth. Before the 19th century, the Muslim scholars could only explain the precise meaning of each word in Arabic in the verse, as well as the overall meaning of the verse due to the limitations of science and technology.

Therefore, one can say the Quran cannot be a book of a human if it were so, then it could not have provided such information hundreds of years ago. The only possibility is that it is divine revelation that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) received. 

To conclude, our universe is getting bigger and bigger. The expansion of the universe is accelerating, how can that be? Well, astronomers realized there must be some pushing because Newton’s Second Law states that in order to accelerate an object, there must be some force. They do not know what it is but it is there.
The agent, force, which causing this acceleration, they call it “Dark Energy”. They do not know what dark matter is but it is there. They don’t understand the dark energy. What agent actually triggered the process of expansion, even before that what agent caused the matter to get together and even before that, who created the matter, astronomers have no answers to these kinds of questions. The Quran can answer these questions.

The Originator says in the Quran;

Is not He who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the likes of them? Yes, [it’s so]; and He is the knowing creator.” 
[Quran (36:81)]
Then in the next verse;
His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, "Be," and it is.”
[Quran (36:82)]
Therefore, there is still a lot to play for. Astronomers have yet to explore the edges of the cosmos.

23 comments:

  1. A very interesting post. I have always found the parallels between the Quran and Science pretty amazing.

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  2. wow what an interesting post! i def will share w/ friends!

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  3. oh i never knew about this before :) thank you for addressing this and introducing this information to me. so the universe is getting bigger and bugger

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    1. Yeah it started from a point which is still expanding.

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  4. The universe fascinates me so much. There's a lot we just don't know for sure and I keep trying to learn more!

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    1. Exactly, we still do not know much about the universe. And I would say, we've to take help from religion at some point because science cannot explain everything such as "Dark Energy".

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  5. There's so much to learn about the universe. I have never read the Quran and I didn't know that it has text related to the expansion of the universe, that's pretty interesting!

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    1. I hope it has added some value to your prior knowledge about the universe and the Quran, Alison.

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  6. I never made this connection before. I will have to share with my Muslim friends.

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  7. These are good information, I can't wait to share these to my Muslim friends and see what is their opinion about this.

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    1. It's good to see that you are going to share the article with your Muslim friends. Thanks :)

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  8. I know that the Quran is like the Bible for Christians like me. I believe in the power of God and the Universe :)

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  9. Very interesting and informative post. Never heard of this. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. This is interesting and scary at the same time. I think it's like any bubble really. Eventually it will pop, like our universe. Doesn't it seem that way?

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  11. Wow. Not sure how I feel about it. Sometimes. I think science is science and fact based and things like the quaran and bible are based off myths.

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  12. This is a very informative and factual
    post. I was not aware of some of the things in this post but it’s always good to be educated about the world we live in.

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  13. Thank you for this interesting post. The parallels here are definitely undeniable. I took a religion class in university and learned a little about the Quran, but this just fascinated me a lot more. Something I’ll definitely dive deeper in.

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  14. I don’t believe in any supreme being but I love science and I found all your facts about astronomy fascinating. I read Quran many years ago and I think this is amazing source of historical and cultural facts

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  15. Love science! Everything seems to be so surreal but actually it is the way our universe works! Great post!

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