UNRAVELING THE MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

November 14, 2022

The Qur’an and the Celestial Sphere

The celestial sphere has always held a fascination for humans throughout history. They have looked up and marveled at its beauty and have pondered the questions that came to mind. It is the Divine guidance, through the Quran, that pivoted mankind to reflect on the celestial creation as a handiwork of God’s creation. The Final Revelation and the Messenger (peace be on him), in fact, inspired early Muslims to pursue the science of astronomy. Through several centuries of astronomy, the instrument that has proven to be essential in the observation and study of what is beyond Earth is undoubtedly the telescope.

The Telescope

The telescope has provided a window to observe the near and far reaches of the universe. Today, with investment of money and technology, NASA and its contributors have built the most complex and powerful telescope, as well as the largest, the James Webb space telescope (JWST). Considered as the successor to the Hubble, this sophisticated optical instrument was launched in 2021, at a cost of 10 billion dollars. Since that short time ago, it has served to increase and refine the understanding of our captivating universe; and holds great promise for the future.

The Heavens are a Sign

Mankind is encouraged to look at the heavens, to witness and appreciate its perfect grandeur. As the Quran states: (It is He) “Who has created the seven heavens one above another, you can see no fault in the creations of the Most Beneficent. Then look again: “Can you see any rifts? Then look again and yet again…”¹ The vast panorama of celestial bodies and space does evoke admiration and wonder at what we see, but it is the believer that draws the connection to God Almighty. There are several Quranic verses on matters relating to the universe. One Qur’anic verse, in particular, gives meaning to one’s observation and contemplation of the macrocosm: “Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding…”²

The Big Bang Theory

We are told today that the human is a product resulting from the changes of an evolving universe, a chance occurrence in the cosmic timeframe. Human beings are viewed as essentially an end-product of a part of the very first light produced by the Big Bang. “We were rooted in the cosmic microwave radiation. We were the primal atoms speaking of our fourteen-billion-year existence.”³ The Big Bang is the theory the universe was born of an explosion that consisted chiefly of radiation, some 13.7 billion years ago. Muslim scholars link the following Quranic ayah to the Big Bang: “Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one united piece, then We parted them?”⁴ The established cosmological theory, as it stands, is not at odds with the concept of Divine creation. Man is both a physical and spiritual entity-a special creation of God- created in the “best of molds.”⁵

Muslims and The Science of Astronomy

Role of Fasting Article Featured Image MuslimPerspectives 2022

Studying the firmament above has been a favorite endeavor of many ancient cultures, including the Islamic civilization. The science of Astronomy increased by leaps and bounds during the Golden Age of Islam, the 9^th through the 13^th centuries. Astronomy since the 17^th century has been dominated by the West. The pivotal swing to investigating the cosmos by non-Muslim Europeans came with the work of Galileo Galilei. In 1609, this Italian scientist peered through what is widely acknowledged as the first telescope used to systematically examine the heavenly bodies.

Credit for the first telescope, however, may go to Hans Lippershey; he was the first to apply for a patent on this Dutch “perspective glasses”.⁶ Great scientists like Galileo achieved their greatness by “standing on the shoulders of giants” who preceded them and laid the groundwork. Alhazen, the Latinized name for Ibn al Haytham, who lived in the 10^th-11^th century A.D., was one of those outstanding scientists. He authored the “Book of Optics” which included how the human eye sees far away objects like stars. After its translation into Latin around 1200 CE, “…It sparked a revolution in optics in Europe. His knowledge provided the basis for many of the great scientific discoveries of later scholars such as Galileo and Kepler.”⁷ Ibn al Haytham’s work in optics had an indirect influence on the development of the telescope.⁸

Today’s Technological Advances

nasa CpHNKNRwXps unsplash — Credit: NASA on Unsplash.com

Today, technology in the field of astronomy is much more complex than the astronomy of ancient times. As technology advances in space exploration, more discoveries are made. The first telescopes were all about gathering visible light and resolving or focusing the fine details of the image. Now “invisible astronomy”, utilizing other wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, produces more results, especially with infra-red and radio invisible wavelengths. Its benefits include less interference from inter-stellar dust and viewing by day and night. Space telescopes have the advantage of eliminating all obstruction from air molecules, as is the case with the infra-red JWST positioned in its orbit about one million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from Earth. The telescope functions like a one-way time machine – looking back in time with light coming from different objects at different times. JWST was designed to see the first objects just after the Big Bang. Such pictures emerge from the edges of the expanding universe.

The Universe is Vast and Ever-Expanding

graham holtshausen fUnfEz3VLv4 unsplash 1 — Photo by Graham Holtshausen on Unsplash

It is difficult for the human mind to fathom the vastness of cosmic space. We can have an idea by considering the fact that our sun may be just one of some 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy⁹, and there may be as many billions of galaxies as there are stars in our galaxy in the known universe.¹⁰ The diameter of the observable universe is estimated to be 93 billion light years, or the distance light would travel in this amount of time.¹¹ This defies imagination. Such enormous numbers of stars and galaxies in a gigantic universe, undergoing continuous expansion, give more meaning to the words taught to us by the final Messenger (peace be on him): “Glory and praise be to God according to the number of His creation…”. Muslim scholars tell us that this statement means He deserves to be glorified and praised by this much, and more, since His creation is constantly increasing, and there is no limit to His praise.¹²

Search For Life – A Key Goal of the Telescope

The telescope is providing us with a glimpse of this expansive universe and its multitude of galaxies. Another key goal in the use of telescopes is the search for life. There is high expectation that JWST will deliver when it comes to studying the atmosphere of exoplanets and in the search for the precursors of life. Already, NASA’s Kepler Space telescope has discovered thousands of exoplanets. On the question of extraterrestrial life, there is an unambiguous verse in support of it which Muslim scholars cite: “And among His Ayat (proofs, evidence, lessons, signs, etc.) is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and whatever moving (living) creatures He has dispersed in them both. …”¹³

Indeed, discovery is “in the air” with respect to astronomy and cosmology. The present time embodies advances in these fields. The relevancy of the Quran is apparent here as elsewhere, and its verses provide guidance in our reflections on the universe.

REFERENCES