Quran & Science

Astronomy

Initial stages of the universe

The Qur'an in Surah Fussilat, Ch. No. 41, verse 11 ‘Moreover, in His design He comprehended the sky, and it had been smoke. And He said to it and the earth, come ye together willingly or unwillingly, and they said we come together in willing obedience’. The Arabic word used here is ‘Dukhan’, which means ‘Smoke’. If you ask a scientist, he will tell you that the, universe before it was formed, the celestial matter, it was in the state of ‘gas’, and the Arabic word ‘Dukhan’ which means Smoke, is more scientifically correct than mere ‘gas’. And according to Stephen Hawkins, who is a very famous scientist, he said – ‘the discovery of bridges of matter in the space, is the biggest discovery of this century which gives us indisputable evidence of the creation of the universe and the Big Bang Theory’.

The expending universe

In 1925, American astronomer Edwin Hubble,provided observational evidence that all galaxies are moving away from one another, which implies that the universe is expanding. The expansion of the universe is now an established scientific fact. This is what the Qur’an says regarding the nature of the universe: “With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: For it is We Who create the vastness of Space.”[Al-Qur’an 51:47]The Arabic word musioon is correctly translated as‘expanding it’, and it refers to the creation of the expanding vastness of the universe. Moon reflected light Previously people thought that the light of the Moon, is its own light. It is recently discovered, that the light of the Moon is reflected light of the Sun. The Qur'an says in Surah Furqan, Ch. No. 25, Verse No. 61… ‘Blessed is He who has created the constellations in the sky, and placed therein a lamp, and Moon having borrowed light’. The Qur'an says in Surah Yunus, Ch. No. 10, Verse No. 5… ‘It is Allah who has created the Sun as a shining glory and the Moon having a reflection of light’. The similar message is repeated in Surah Nuh, Ch. No. 71, Verse No. 15 to 16. The Arabic word for Sun is ‘Shams’. It's always described either as ‘Siraj’ meaning a torch, or ‘Wahaj’ meaning a blazing lamp, or ‘Diya’ – ‘meaning a shining glory’. The Moon - the Arabic word is ‘Qamar’. It's always described as ‘Munir’, meaning borrowed light or ‘Noor’, which is a reflection of light. Nowhere is the moon light described as ‘Siraj’ or ‘Wahaj’ or ‘Diya’ - always as ‘Munir’ or ‘Noor’ - that's borrowed light or a reflection of light.Paths and Orbits That the entire universe is full of paths and orbits such as this one, is written in the Qur'an as follows:”By the sky full of paths and orbits.„(The Qur'an, 51:7) There are about 200 billion galaxies in the universe, consisting of nearly 200 billion stars in each. Most of these stars have planets, and most of those planets have satellites. All of these heavenly bodies move in very precisely computed orbits. For millions of years, each has been "swimming" along in its own orbit in perfect harmony and order with all the others. Moreover, many comets also move along in the orbits determined for them.The orbits in the universe do not only belong to celestial bodies. The galaxies also travel at enormous speeds in computed, planned orbits. During these movements, none of these celestial bodies cuts across another's path, or collides with another. Surely at the time the Qur'an was revealed, mankind did not possess today's telescopes or advanced observation technologies to observe millions of kilometers of space, nor the modern knowledge of physics or astronomy. Therefore, at that time, it was not possible to determine scientifically that space is "full of paths and orbits" as stated in the verse. However, this was openly declared to us in the Qur'an that was revealed at that time:–because the Qur'an is the word of God.