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Page last edited on 12 March, 2003
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The Creation of the Universe and Qur'aan
[ Taken from "Qur'an
and The Creation of the Universe" by Dr. Tahirul
Qadri ]
Only in recent years
has modern science been able to unravel some of the mysteries
surrounding the workings of the universe. If one goes back fourteen
hundred years only ignorance prevailed. Illiteracy was the norm, and
education was reserved for a privileged few. Yet in this environment the
Holy Qur'an stated details concerning the universe that only the creator
of the universe could know. The Qur'an describes these natural phenomena
to focus man's attention to the wisdom, benevolence and authority of his
Creator. The more modern science unfolds the reality of this phenomena,
the more the truth of the Qur'an is evident to us at a time when the
names of different scientific fields still do not exist, let alone have
scientific research conducted on them.
For instance, in
the 1920's Edwin Hubble brought forward the idea that the universe was
not a static and unchanging but continually expanding. Later in 1964 two
American scientists, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson said that the
physical universe began from a single entity, naming it the "Minute
Cosmic Egg", which in turn burst and resulted in the creation of
different strata of the universe. The Qur'an however clearly stated this
fourteen hundred years ago:
"Why do
not the unbelievers realise that the heavens and the earth were one
piece, then we parted them and we made everything of water. Will they
not believe?"
(Al-Anbiya 21:30)
The two Arabic words used in the verse are RATQ and FATQ. RATQ means to
bind and fuse together forming a homogenous mass. FATQ, the opposite of
RATQ means a action to break, diffuse or separate.
As to the words
"We made everything from water," these are consistent with our
recent knowledge of biological science that all life began in water.
Also in regards to the theory that the universe is continually expanding
the Qur'an stated:
"And He
keep creating what you do not know" (An-Nahl 16:8)
"And He
keeps expanding His creation what He wills." (Al-Fatir 35:1)
Moreover in
reference to the creation of the universe the Qur'an states:
" Allah
is the one who made the skies and the earth and what is in between in 6
days." (As-Sajidah 32:4)
The Arabic word
for day is "Yawm" but that does not refer to the day as we
know it to be since it refers to a time before the sun and earth were
created. There are verses in the Qur'an (As-Sajidah 32:5, Al-Ma'arij
70:4) indicating that it means a long period of time, even up to
millions and billions of years.
However this does
not mean one should justify changing the meaning of the Qur'an verses to
bring them in line with scientific discoveries; nor regard scientific
interpretation as final, because scientific knowledge is itself
constantly changing and evolving. There is little which can be called
final and absolute. However the biological and physical facts of the
universe described by the Qur'an could not have been known before modern
technology breakthroughs. As this is the cause then an unbiased person
can have no doubt that the Qur'an is the word of the Creator and Islam,
the universal truth.
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