The idea of this universe having a beginning and end was only a religious concept until about a century ago when through various observations Scientists came up with the 'big bang' theory as a way of explaining the beginning of this universe. Antagonists of Religion, hardly take time to understand religious scriptures objectively. When Religious scriptures mentioned that the world had a beginning and an end, it was taken with a pinch of salt, when the Scientists came out many years later with the same idea of a beginning for universe and gave the term "big bang" everybody applauded. But this big bang theory was already mentioned in religious scriptures. In the book" God Arises" the author mentions an interesting story of a group Chinese students who were on Government scholarship to study in the University of California. These students decided to learn to what degree Christianity had affected American culture. The Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley who was to give them Sunday classes on this topic decided to hand them over to a Christian Mathematician and Astronomer by name Peter W. Stoner. Faced with a problem of what to present to his audience he finally decided to start with Genesis. One sentence in Genesis that talks about the beginning of the Earth ...'and darkness was upon the face of the deep' convinced the Chinese students that this was a book of God. By the time the book of Genesis was completed the group converted to Christianity. They believed this sentence was the best way to describe the situation when the earth was hot after all water had evaporated. That said, I should also sadly mention that the new and old testaments, originally Devine, have lost their pristine qualities due to human interference, resulting in a whole lot of inconsistencies, contradictions and ambiguities to the extent that it is hard to give seriousness to the present day Bible as a whole, as the word of God. Maybe parts of it are still reliable.
The Final testament that was revealed to The Holy Prophet Mohammad 1400 years ago was first to point out that the Bible had been tampered with. The Quran is a Book of the Signs of Allah and not a book of Science. Among the Signs of Allah that are mentioned in the Qur'aan are Natural phenomena such as rainfall, Astronomy, Geology, Biology and even Dietetics Physics. The much glorified 'big bang theory' that was proposed only yesterday (relatively speaking) – 1931 by , Lemaître in his hypothèse de l'atome primitif" (hypothesis of the primeval atom) that the universe began with the "explosion" of the "primeval atom" —later called the Big Bang theory by Hoyle has been been explicitly mentioned in the Qur'aan 1400 years ago.
'Does not the disbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were one solid mass which was tore asunder, and that we made every living thing of water? Will they not have faith?' (Qur'aan 21:30).
The process of expansion that started 6 million year ago continued and is still going on because the more the celestial bodies move away from the centre the weaker is the attraction. This process of continuous expansion is also mentioned very clearly in the Qur'aan chapter 51 verse 47.
'The Heaven, we have built it with power. Verily, we are expanding it' (Qur'aan 51:47)
After having mentioned the above it is worth noting that Religion is ahead of Science and as Science progresses the gap between religion and Science narrows – This is how it was put by Professor Keith Moore - Head of the Embryological Studies of North America when he was overwhelmed by findings in the Qur'aan that not only matched scientific observation but was even more accurate in it's descriptions of the various stages of the development of the human embryo.
As the writer rightly puts it, "The reason why scientists don’t say the “Fact” is because scientists do not offer 100% knowledge in anything". That Scientists do not offer 100% fact is an honest admission, because Only the Creator the Absolute, gives 100% facts. Some people are given the capacity to investigate these facts mentioned by the creator – Scientists. Majority of the people just believe out of faith as is today and more so during the time of the Prophet. This should not create waves because after all the majority of the people do not understand Science either, but believe out of faith for the Scientists. Opponents of religion should be fair. Majority of people do not understand your language or complex Mathematics neither do they see your observations in your labs. Most are even confused, but they nod their heads in acceptance simply because we trust Scientists. Similarly people trust the scriptures and you cry foul? why? When it is Science it is Ok to hire an efficient Lawyer when it is religion it is not allowed to hire an efficient lawyer?. Give us a break. Furthermore, the modern –Scientific way of reasoning does not insist that only those which can be observed or proved in the lab are true. No not at all.
Science has only touched a little of what Religion speaks about. Religion sets the pace in the mysteries of the universe, but Scientists, by their nature are inquisitive, they try to understand mysteries level by level. Drilling down deeper and deeper. As methods improve and new resources are acquired they drill more and efficiently and get better results. But bear in mind this process of investigating further and further does not remove God from the equation it only confirms the existence and actions of God.
The Quran is not a book of Science but a book of Signs and it does not have to go into detailed explanations or else it loses its focus. But we the creatures of God have to investigate to increase our faith in Allah, the Creator.
Having mentioned the beginning of the universe it might interest the reader to learn that Scientists hold that even though the furthest galaxy is several million light years away, if the whole quantum cosmic matter were compressed, the size will become ONLY 30 thousand times the size of the sun!. This finding is relatively recent. Consider what the Qur'aan asserts that after the expansion, the universe can still be condensed into a smaller space. This is implied in the Qur'aan 21:104
"On that day (end of the universe) we shall roll up the heaven like a scroll of writing" Qur'aan 21:104
The Muslim Qur'aan is unique in it's confidence and the challenges it throws. Islam does not ask you just to depend on faith and prayers nor does it encourage blind faith. The Quran is replete with sayings such as Do they not see? Do they not understand, do they not reason? The Quran asks you as to read and explore to get to know Allah.
To end I'll again quote Professor Keith Moore who said "As SCIENCE progresses, the gap between Science and Religion closes"
I. Al-Hassan
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