The Quran and All Truth: Islam and Cosmology

From: http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Quran-and-All-Truth.html

The Quran addresses all aspects of nature's destiny -- i.e., creation, evolution, past, present, future, and its various systems.

By , May 18, 2010
By Riaz Hussain

Cosmology is the study of universe as a whole, including its distant past and its future. It is the study of the general nature of the universe. What is the universe now? What was it in the past and what is it likely to be in the future? How was the universe created? These are the basic themes of cosmology.
In its broad sense the term "universe" refers to the totality of existing entities and processes. This term includes reference to all modes of natural existence, various sciences such as astronomy, physics, biology, chemistry, and psychology and contributes to man's understanding of what is contained in all this comprehensive subject matter. In a restricted sense, the term "universe" refers to what is taken to be the most inclusive system of astronomical bodies. Now scientific cosmology is taken in the sense of astronomy. The universe in scientific cosmology is identified on an observational level with the vast realm of galaxies.
Cosmology is as old as human beings. Men have been examining and wondering about the sky for many millennia; the beauty of the night sky has been a source of fascination and pleasure for all mankind. Men and women have watched and wondered at the seasonal procession of stars across the heavens. Thus astronomy was the first science of ancient civilization, the avocation of Egyptian priests and Greek philosophers, medieval monks and Renaissance princes. As scientific discoveries have been made, ideas about the origin of the universe have changed and are still changing.
Modern astronomy deals with the birth and death of stars, with exotic matters and energies, with infinities of space and time and with creation, evolution, and the ultimate destiny of the universe.
Science has revealed a universe of unimaginable size; billions upon billions of stars burn with the energy of the thermonuclear furnace. Many die in explosions that litter the reaches of space with gas and dust. While thinking about the universe, man tried to find his place in the universe. Where is earth located? Through his observation and knowledge he tried to unfold the mysteries of the universe. As long ago as 1100 B.C., Mesopotamian and Babylonian cultures mapped the motion of the planets across the sky by observing how they moved against the background of the stars.
Aristotle in about 350 B.C. theorized that the sun, the moon, and the planets all revolved around the earth. In about 250 B.C., Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos became the first person to assert that the earth moved around the sun. But Aristotle's model of the universe prevailed for almost 1800 years. Until the 16th century, people considered the earth to be the centre of the universe.
In about 140 A.D., Egyptian scientist Ptolemy explained the retrograde motion as a result of set of small circles called epicycles on which the planets moved. His ideas were accepted in an age when standards of scientific accuracy and proof had not been developed. Even when Polish astronomer Nicolas Copernicus developed his model of sun-centered universe in the 1540s, he based his idea on philosophy instead of observations.
In the 16th century, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe made most scientific and accurate observations of the universe to that time. After him, German astronomer Kepler discovered that planets orbited around the sun in elongated circles. This discovery was Kepler's first law and then he developed two more laws about how speed and periods of the planets changed.
Later on, Galileo, the Italian scientist, Newton, the English scientist, and Einstein, a German turned American scientist, gave new dimensions to astronomical developments. In this way, Kepler's laws of orbital motion, Newton's laws of motion, and Einstein's general theory of relativity went a long way to contribute to man's understanding of the universe and unfold many mysteries of the universe. Most of cosmology today is based on the set of solutions found in the 1920s by Russian mathematician Alexander Friedmann.
Modern astronomers base their theories on astronomical observations, physical concepts such as quantum mechanics, and elements of imagination and philosophy. Cosmologists have moved beyond trying to find earth's place in the universe to explain the origin, nature, and fate of the universe.
In the latter half of the 20th century, cosmologists were considering two theories for the origin of the universe. The first, a steady state theory, suggested that the universe had always existed. The universe was more or less the same as it is now and it does not change over time. The second was the currently accepted Big Bang theory, which holds that the universe was created from one enormous explosion. It proposes that a huge explosion set free all the matter and energy in the universe. So far the Big Bang theory is widely accepted.
In current cosmological models the universe was first both hot and dense with temperatures exceeding billions of degrees. In the first second after the Big Bang, as the universe cooled, elementary particles such as quarks and electrons were formed. It happened about 15 billion years ago. The scientists believe that the picture of the universe provided by the Big Bang is fairly accurate. This is what science or cosmology says about the creation of the universe. About its present position it is believed that it is still expanding. But there is no clear answer to the question whether the universe will expand forever or eventually will collapse.
Such enigmas are addressed by Islam. Let us see how the issue is treated by the Quran, which takes the question in all its comprehensiveness and addresses all its aspects -- i.e., creation, evolution, past, present, future, and its various systems.
Now we turn over the pages of the Holy Quran and see what it has to say on the subject. The Quran begins with the celebration that Allah is lord of all the worlds. It means the universe is not confined to earth and solar system, that there are other worlds and God has created all. Therefore he is exalted. The first thing regarding the creation of universe is that the universe is created by God. The following verses from the Holy Quran substantiate my point:
"To Him is due the primal origin of heavens and earth and when he decreeth a matter He saith it ‘be' and it is done." (Al-Bakara:117).
"Verily your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and earth in six days and is firmly established on the throne, regulating and governing all the things." (Younis:3)
"To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth; to him do all questions go back." (Al-Imran:109)
There are many verses in the Holy Quran that clearly explain that the authority over the entire universe belongs to Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He created the universe then made laws and systems. It is a fundamental belief of Islam because it saves humans from wild goose chases. Islam lays stress on its believers to think and ponder over the creation of God.
The following verse speaks to the issue of the creation of the universe and the earth:
"O, prophet how can they (unbelievers) negate Allah who created the earth in two days. He is the Lord of all the worlds . . . Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky. And it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and the earth come ye together willingly or unwillingly." (Rehman: 41)
According to standard Big Bang Theory, after the big bang when the universe was expanding, it was cooling as well. The cooling has caused the formation of different particles-matter formation. When the energy got sufficiently low, the particles like neutrons and protons combined to make primordial gases. These gases, due to anisotropy, started to concentrate in some regions of the universe, giving rise to the formation of galaxies and stars. This description of the creation of the universe is supported both by experimental discoveries and mathematical formulations.
The universe is expanding in vast space. Quran says:
"With power and skill did We construct the firmament; for it is We Who creates vastness of space." (Al-Zariat:47)
At another place the Almighty says:
"Blessed is He who made constellations in the skies and placed therein a lamp and a moon giving light." (Al-Furqan:61)
In 20th century philosophers began to speculate about the structure of the universe and galaxies. Now, after using giant telescopes, sophisticated instruments, and high speed computers, it is said that the universe is made up of thousands of millions of galaxies and constellations, but the Quran gave the vision through the unlettered prophet 1400 years ago; that is why the Quran says that there are signs for those who are wise, who think, ponder, and want to understand.
The Holy Quran explains the phenomena of time: "the number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year) so ordained by Him, the day He created the heavens and the earth." (Al-Tauba:30)
It clearly shows that the specification of time, length of days that we see today was created after the creation of earth and the solar system. How explicitly the time and space are mentioned in the Holy Quran.
The concepts of the movements of earth, the moon, position of the sun and stars and sky are also very explicitly clarified by the Quran.
The word "star" (nujm and najum) appears thirteen times in the Quran. On this subject there is one complete chapter (Al-Najm) in the holy book of Islam. Quranic words Najm and Kokab are translated by the scholars as stars and planets respectively.
According to Quran, "God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is as if there were niche and within it a luminary. The luminary is in glass. And glass is as if it were a planet glittering like a pearl." (Al-Noor:35)
In another verse He says, "We have indeed adorned the lowest heavens with our ornaments and planets." (Al-Safat:6)
It is said that the Quranic word As-sama-o-dunia stands for the solar system. About days and nights, rotation and revolution, the sun and the moon Al-Quran says, "He merges night into day and day into night. And He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law). Each one runs its course for a term appointed."
The Quran addresses the basic questions of creation. Turning toward the creation of all living beings, the holy book says, "And we have created everything living from water." This is a categorical statement and very comprehensive answer of the Quran to the questions of creation and evolution of life -- all life is created from water. There is unanimity of view of almost all the scientists and cosmologists that the basic prerequisite of every kind of life is water. The creation of life without water is impossible.
About winds, clouds, and rain the Quranic interpretation is as scientific as ever. It says, "It is Allah who sends forth the winds, so that they rise up the clouds and We drive them to a land that is dead and revive the earth therewith after its death." (Al-Fater:9)
The Quran systematically describes the process of rising of winds, formation of clouds, and rainwater. And that water gives life.
About the atmosphere and ozone the Quran mentions that He made earth's atmospheric roof to prevent dangerous radiation reaching the earth. God says, "And We have made above you seven strong barriers." (Al-Nisa:12)
These radiations could have devastated the life on earth. The function of this roof is to save us from dangerous solar radiations, most of which are either reflected back into space or absorbed by it.
The most important question about the universe is its future, whether it has any end. The Holy Quran says the sky was smoke (gases) and once more it will be a smoke. "The sky will bring a smoke which will take everything in it." Many verses tell that the universe is moving toward its end. The sunspots, the depletion of ozone layer, the rising temperature, etc., demonstrate that one day everything will perish and there would be an end to this universe.
From the above discussion it can be safely concluded that the Holy Quran does not contain a single verse that is open to criticism from modern science or cosmology. I have taken just few glimpses from the Quran to present certain aspects of cosmology as seen from Islamic point of view. Science is in pursuit of ultimate truth; the Quran time and again calls upon the people to think over and over again about the creation of universe, human beings, stars, galaxies, so that they can reach ultimate truth. The Quran is not the book of science but it is a fact that it contains basic principles of almost all the sciences.

This article was first printed as science-islam.net and is reprinted with permission.