C) The Quran on the Origin of the Universe:

C) The Quran on the Origin of the Universe:
The science of modern cosmology, observational and theoretical,
clearly indicates that, at one point in time, the whole universe was
nothing but a cloud of ‘smoke’ (i.e. an opaque highly dense and hot
gaseous composition).1 This is one of the undisputed principles of
standard modern cosmology. Scientists now can observe new stars
forming out of the remnants of that ‘smoke’ (see figures 10 and 11).





Figure 10: A new star forming out of a cloud of gas and dust (nebula),
which is one of the remnants of the ‘smoke’ that was the origin of the
whole universe. (The Space Atlas, Heather and Henbest, p. 50.)





Figure 11: The Lagoon nebula is a cloud of gas and dust, about 60
light years in diameter. It is excited by the ultraviolet radiation
of the hot stars that have recently formed within its bulk. (Horizons,
Exploring the Universe, Seeds, plate 9, from Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.) (Click on the image to
enlarge it.)


The illuminating stars we see at night were, just as was the whole
universe, in that ‘smoke’ material. God has said in the Quran:

Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke... (Quran, 41:11)

Because the earth and the heavens above (the sun, the moon, stars,
planets, galaxies, etc.) have been formed from this same ‘smoke,’ we
conclude that the earth and the heavens were one connected entity.
Then out of this homogeneous ‘smoke,’ they formed and separated from
each other. God has said in the Quran:

Have not those who disbelieved known that the heavens and the earth
were one connected entity, then We separated them?... (Quran, 21:30)

Dr. Alfred Kroner is one of the world’s renowned geologists. He is
Professor of Geology and the Chairman of the Department of Geology at
the Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz,
Germany. He said: “Thinking where Muhammad came from . . . I think it
is almost impossible that he could have known about things like the
common origin of the universe, because scientists have only found out
within the last few years, with very complicated and advanced
technological methods, that this is the case.”2 (To view the
RealPlayer video of this comment click here ). Also he said:
“Somebody who did not know something about nuclear physics fourteen
hundred years ago could not, I think, be in a position to find out
from his own mind, for instance, that the earth and the heavens had
the same origin.”3 (View the RealPlayer video of this comment ).


Next: The Quran on the Cerebrum


_____________________________

Footnotes:

(1) The First Three Minutes, a Modern View of the Origin of the
Universe, Weinberg, pp. 94-105.

(2) The reference for this saying is This is the Truth (videotape).
For a copy of this videotape, please visit this page.

(3) This is the Truth (videotape).