The
Big Bang Theory: From a Qur'anic
Perspective
One
of the great mysteries facing scientists today is the answers to the two
following questions:
1. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE?
2. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF LIFE?
The answer to the first question is difficult than the answer to the
second question. Allah (SWT) says in the Qur'an creation of the universe was a
greater problem than the creation of man.
The following verse in the Qur'an alludes to the Big Bang
Theory:
DO THEY NOT THE UNBELIEVERS SEE THAT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WERE
JOINED TOGETHER (AS ONE UNIT OF CREATION) BEFORE WE CLOVE THEM ASUNDER? WE MADE
FROM WATER EVERY LIVING THING. WILL THEY NOT THEN BELIEVE?
Surah: 21. Al-Anbiyaa, Ayath
30
The origin of universe has been explained by several cosmological
theories. One theory that seems philosophically far more attractive is called
the Steady-State model. This theory was proposed in the 1940s by Herman Bondi,
Thomas Gold and Fred Hoyle. They stated that the universe has always been just
about the same as it is now. As it expands, new matter is continually created
to fill up the gaps between the galaxies.
This theory has been replaced by the "Standard Model" or the
"Big Bang" Theory. Using the Doppler effect the astronomers confirmed
that the galaxies are moving away and that the universe is expanding. The birth
of the universe has been estimated to be between 15 and 30 billion years ago.
The experimental confirmation of the Big Bang Theory came from the
detection of the Cosmic Microwave Radiation Background by a pair of radio
astronomers, Arno. A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson. In 1964 they were working
in the Bell Telephone Laboratory which had in its possession of an unusual
radio antenna on Crawford Hill at Holmdel, New Jersey. By measuring the cosmic
microwave radiation background radiation which is the noise left over from the
early universe, they calculated the temperature in the universe to be 3.5
degrees Kelvin.
In the beginning there was an explosion. This explosion is not the
same as one observes on earth. As a result of this explosion, space and time
were born and started to expand to this day, and they will continue to expand
in the future. The temperature of the universe was about a hundred thousand
million degrees Centigrade. It is so hot than none of the components of
ordinary matter molecules, or atoms or even the nuclei of atoms, could have
held together. In the early universe there was abundance of electrons,
Positrons
(anti-electron) and neutrinos, ghostly particles with no mass or electric
charge. Finally, the universe was filled with light. Light consists of
particles of zero mass and zero electrical charge known as photons. The number
and the average energy of the photons was about the same as for electrons,
positrons or neutrinos. These particles were continually being created out of
pure energy (original source of all matter in the present-day universe-galaxies,
nebulae, stars, planets, earth, etc.).
As the time passed and the temperature of the universe cooled,
nucleosynthesis took place and hydrogen and helium and other heavy elements
were formed. After 3 minutes of the Big Bang, the universe consisted of 73 percent
hydrogen and 27 percent helium. The resulting gases under the influence of
gravitation ultimately condensed to form the galaxies and stars of the present
universe.
The Big Bang Theory is very close to a comprehensive understanding of Surah 21, Al-Anbiyaa and Ayath 30,
which is cited above. In his note # 2690, Allama
Yusuf Ali says " The evolution of the ordered worlds as we see them is
hinted at. As man's intellectual gaze over the physical world expands, he sees
more and more how Unity is the dominating note in Allah's wonderful Universe.
Taking the solar system alone, we know that the maximum intensity of sun-spots
corresponds with the maximum intensity of magnetic storms on this earth. The
universal law of gravitation seems to bind all mass together. Physical facts
point to the throwing off of planets from vast quantities of diffused nebular
matter, of which the central condensed core is sun." Of course when Allama Yusuf Ali wrote this commentary
it was 1935, long before the Big Bang Theory was espoused and long before the
discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
Conclusion: The Big Bang Theory does not contradict the Qur'anic revelation (21:30) and it can
be used as a Tafsir in understanding
21:30.
REFERENCE:
Weinberg, S.: The First Three Minutes. A Modern View of the Origin of the
Universe. Basic Books, Inc. Publishers, NY 1977.
Extract from: http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_1_50/big_bang_theory.htm
With thanks from
Mr. Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D. President,
Islamic Research
Foundation International,
God bless the
entire humanity
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