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162 Understanding the creation of the Universe. Dear Friends, Assalamu Alaikum, The topic that I spoke on last week was ‘Objecti ves for Creating the Universe’ In that talk I was trying tr ying to discuss two rather interesting questions. It was from considering the Aayaths in the Quran that describe the creation of the (
) along with the now
compelling scientific evidence and the resulting theor y which is popularly known as the ‘Big Bang’ that I tried to deal with these two questions. Th e fi r st of these these ques questi ons was ‘If ‘If this Universe was created 13.7 Billion years ago, then what
was there before the ‘Big Bang’? Bang’? This is a quote from the BBC VDO Documentary titled ‘How the earth was formed’ formed ’ “The Universe came out of nothing. It was nowhere because before it there was no time, there was also no space, there was truly truly truly nothing, that is to say not even a place where it happened, not even a time at which it happened. Somehow out of this nothing, came everything! ” By definition God has neither beginning nor an end. So obviously God has to have been present even before the ‘Big Bang’ So, if this Universe was just not present before the ‘Big Bang’ then where then where was God? Was He in another Universe? Then, are there many other Universes? This is really interesting because science scie nce is now exploring many new theories and hypotheses under the subjects of quantum physics and the string theory, and the idea of Multiple Universes or the Multiverse is very much in the focus of these t hese discussions. So if we consider the presence of many other Universes and then the subsequent creation of this Universe, it is natural that we ask the question ‘what happened happened or what were the events and the underlying reasons for the creation if this Universe?’ Universe? ’ So that is the first of the two questions that I have asked and then tried to a nswer. Th e se second of thos th ose e two que qu esti ons was ‘what are the objectives of creating this Universe?’ Universe?’
Now that question was in fact the title of the talk. Actually the objectives as outlined in many Aayaths of the Quran that I read or rather quoted in last week’s talk week’s talk provide insights or pointers to the answers to both these questions. For today’s talk today’s talk I hope to go in to another two areas, area s, namely; 1. The nature of this universe, and 2. The nature of man. Both these creations are interconnected in many ways. So sometimes you would find that when discussing the nature of the creation of the Universe I would also have to discuss the nature of the cre ation of man and vice versa – versa – Insha Insha Allah! 2
So let us study the creation of the (
) or for ease let me use the word the universe
and how do we do that? Obviously through observing this Universe! However, I do this from two aspects. The first would be through modern scientific findings, and the next would be through some of the related Aayaths from the Quran. The observations from the Aayaths of the Quran are the more significant and also the more intellectuall y stimulating. From reading the Aayaths that describes the objec tives of the creation of the Universe I find that the phrase (
) appears 129 times in the Quran. From reading these Aa yaths it
appears that we had been present even before this Universe was created or we can say we had been present even before the ‘Big Bang’ This statement or this deduction would automatically bring up many questions, such as; ‘Where were we?’ ‘What were we doing?’ ‘What form were we in?’ ‘Why can’t we remember this past existence?’ Maybe, Insha Allah, as we keep on delving into and contemplating on the pointers as shown in the Aayaths of the Quran we may begin to unearth the answers to many of these questions. As I have mentioned earlier this phrase (
) appears 129 times in the Quran.
Now what could this mean? Last week I discussed the objectives of the creation of the (
) through some of
these Aayaths, so this week let us try to find out what this ‘Samaawaathi’ (
) really
means. In Arabic all words are derived from root words which usuall y consist of three and rarely rarel y of four or five letters. The common 3 letter root is referred to as the triliteral root. The word ‘As Samaawaathi’ Samaawaathi’ ( ( wāw (
) is derived from the triliteral root consisting of
sīn mīm
).
( It is interesting to note that this triliteral root sīn mīm wāw (
) occurs 381 times in the Quran,
in six derived forms. The other words derived from this root are: Ism – Ism – which which is translated as name, but it also means a noun. In Arabic the nominal sentence is usually usuall y referred to as the ‘Jumla Ismiyya’ The plural of Ism is ‘Asma’ Asma’ and to most of us this word word ‘Asma’ Asma’ connotes the phrase Asma Ul Husna which means the most beautiful names of Allah or more cor rectly the most beautiful attributes of Allah. So already we have come up with 3 broad meanings for this word Ism. It means Name, Noun and also Attribute. 3
It is from this same triliteral root that that we get the words ‘As SamaaSamaa -i’ and ‘As Samaawaathi’. ‘As SamaaSamaa-i’ is usually translated as ‘sky’ and the word ‘As Samaawaathi’ is usually translated as ‘the skies’ or ‘the heavens’. ‘As Samaawaathi’ is the plural of ‘As Samaa-i Samaa-i’’ Now I ask a question that actually puzzles me. The words ‘As SamaaSamaa-i’ and ‘As Samaawaathi’ are derived from the triliteral root sīn mīm wāw ( ( ) and the most basic form of the root is Ism and in the plural Asma. Now Ism and Asma refer to the words ‘ Name’ Name’ or ‘ Names’ Names’, ‘ Noun’ Noun’ or ‘ Nouns’ Nouns’ and also ‘Attribute’ Attribute’ or ‘Attributes’ Attributes’, especially when referring to the ‘Attributes of Allah’ Allah’. So if ‘As SamaaSamaa-i’ and ‘As Samaawaathi’ are built on the Arabic words Ism and Asma how could it mean sky or heavens? ‘As SamaaSamaa-i’ and ‘As Samaawaathi’ has has to be connected with or has to have a meaning directly connected to Names or Nouns or Attributes. So could it be that ‘As SamaaSamaa -i’ and ‘As Samaawaathi’ really expresses the space or the receptacle that contains or showcases the Names or the Nouns or the Attributes? So could could it be that ‘As SamaaSamaa -i’ and ‘As Samaawaathi’ are actually containers or showcases for the Asmaa? The Earth or the Ardhl which is contained within this ‘As Samaawaathi’ also holds many of these Asmaa too! Well now things begin to make sense because these names or these nouns or (if we were to use the Arabic word) these Asma in the (
) is pointed out to us through the Aayaths
of the Quran which itself had been sent down to Earth. Aayath No’s 190 & 191 & 191 of Surah Aal – Aal – E E Imraan draws our attention to these signs s igns or these Aayaths is a beautiful manner, as follows; [003:190] Certainly! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Aayaath (Signs) for the Oolul Albaab (men of understanding),-
And how do those Oolul Albaab respond to these Aayaath or these signs? [003:191] – Part b - Men who celebrate the praises of God, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth,
When they do Zikr of all these signs or these Aa yaths it becomes obvious to them that this Universe is coming to an end and they also realize that many out of Mankind would be doomed to Hell for ever. 4
So when these ‘Oolul Albaab’ Albaab ’ do Zikr of all these Aayaths or signs in the (
),
they also pray as follows; [003:191] – Part b - "Our Rabb! not for Baathil (falsehood) Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.
So then we do realize that this (
) is actually a huge show that Allah has so
magnificently and meticulously prepared for us so that we could observe Hi s signs or His Aayaths, read His Aayaths, contemplate His Aayaths and then obey the message proclaimed by His signs or His Aayaths. Amazing isn’t isn’t it? The best way I can explain this is by the example a concert. At a concert we have a stage, and it is on the stage that actors act ors or musicians perform. Of course this performance has many factors all of which has to work together synchronized to give the desired effects to the audience. The stage is fixed, and has limited space and in front of the stage sits the audience who watch the concert from their seats. Now in this (
), the concert is actuall y playing all around us, in all three
dimensions and as far as we can see. s ee. The whole Universe is the stage and we t he audience is watching from our seats which is the Ardhla. Now the amazing thing is not only is the concert being performed in the almost endless sky above, in the Samaa-I or the Samaawaathi, but the concert is also being performed on the Earth itself. The Earth or the Ardhl from which we are observing this concert is actually in meticulously regularized motion, and at the same time the sky above us or the Samaawaathi is also in meticulously designed dynamic motion. There are so many celestial bodies all in motion and all balancing the motion of the others. Imagine a concert where there are so many wonders that the stage is always alwa ys revolving so that we see new and changing scenes all the time and not only is the stage revolving but our seats themselves are moving so that we see many views of what is taking place in this revolving stage. So in this (
) the wonders are just so amazing that it i t is really difficult to t o explain.
Whilst on Earth itself we regularly see two very contrasting views of Earth. There is the night view and the day view. Both of these are contrasting in so many ways. The night sky is so different to the day sky. The animals, birds and insects that move around in the day time are very different to those that move around in the night time. On Earth itself we see such a variety of very diverse landscapes. The desert landscape, the river valley landscape, the arctic landscape and even the landscapes of the vast oceans are so contrasting contrast ing but they contribute towards keeping life on earth eart h ‘alive and kicking’. kicking’. 5
Another amazing wonder is that by just observing the (
) we realize that we are
within a massive clock. By observing the movements of the sun we can read the time of da y. By observing the inclination of the sun we can point out directions such as North South East and West. By observing the moon we can point out the phase or the day of the Lunar month. By observing the zodiac signs we can point out the month. So Alhamdulillah, we are in this massive universe proportioned clock, in which we can point out from almost anywhere on this Earth, time of day, da y, day of the Lunar month, the month as well as seasons and even predict regular weather patterns and even changes in weather! Amazing isn’t it? Now let me describe another aspect of the wonders of this the (
).
I hope that I could describe it in a way that will paint the description clearly clearl y in your minds and also stimulate your intellect or your AQL to inquire more through the Zikr of the Aayaths of the Quran in to these wonders. It is a well-researched well-resear ched scientific theory that the Universe began around 13.7 billion years ago with an event that is described as the ‘Big Bang’ and this began with an infinitesimally small ‘nothing ‘nothing’’ that is described as a singularity. s ingularity. Science does confirm that before this ‘Big Bang’ this Universe was just not present so there was no space nor was there any time, as we understand these two concepts. So this universe began thr ough ough ‘nothing’ or through ‘ nothing-ness’ nothing-ness’ The Quran describes this even in Aayath No 30 of Surah Anbiya
(21:30) Did the disbelievers not observe that the heavens and the earth were closed, then We opened them?
The main phrases from that Aayath in this case would be: (
) – means means the
heavens and the earth were closed
(
) Kaanathaa RathQan - means a cl osed entity, and
(
) FafathaQnaa Humaa - means, we opened them.
This scientific theory also informs us that ever since the ‘Big Bang’ this Universe is expanding and also that one day the Universe would reach its limits of expansion and would then roll back to its original state and this event is i s described as the ‘Big Crunch’ The Quran too describes these two phenomena viz. the ever expanding Universe as well as the finality of the Universe through the Big Crunch. 6
After this Big Bang there is continuous expansion – expansion – we we could call this the present state; S Adh Dhaariyaath (51:47) And the sky was built by Us with might; and indeed We are the expanders.
(
) Was Samaa’a banaiynaaHa bi aiydhin
and the sky we constructed it with might
(
) wa innaa lamoosighoon
and definitely (or surely) we (are) surely (its) expanders This expansion would reach its limits and in the future there would be this ‘Big Crunch’ or the ‘rolling back’ S Al Anbiya (21:104) - the Day when We roll up the sky like a scroll rolls up the writings.
(
) Yauwma naTHwis Samaa’a
the day we fold up the skies (
) KaTHaiyyis sijilli lil kuthubi
like (the) folding (of) the scrolls for records Is that not how the ‘Big Bang’ theory describes what would happen when the limits of this expansion is reached? Alhamdulillah, I was able to read these Aayaths that describe the expansion off the Universe and the final ‘Big Crunch’ as it were, in the talk t alk last week under the title ‘The Objectives for Creating this Universe’ Universe’ This magnificent Universe has been functioning with so many millions of systems and processes being released and then falling in to place over these 13.7 billion billion odd years. It is also interesting to briefly briefl y look in some very fundamental or taken for granted concepts of this Universe. There is more in these than we see. Concept No 1 is that of Space. With the ‘Big Bang’ and the continuing expansion of the Universe, obviously one huge fa ctor that is continuously being unraveled is this vast vast space. Now all of us know that this space has three dimensions and we we can move forward in space, backward in space and even upwards upwards and downwards. 7
Then since there is a beginning of this Universe and an end to it obviously there is this concept of time. However to all of us time has only onl y one dimension or we could say one direction. Where time is concerned we can only move forward or only in the directi on of the future. It would actually be more accurate to say sa y that time moves only in the direction of the future. We have no control or management tools or even some handles to manage the motion or the direction of time. If I may elaborate on the concept, time moves only in one direction that is towards the future and we cannot move faster or slower towards the future nor can we move backwards towards the past. This is our experience of this concept of time. However Einstein’s theory that shook the world and has been proven on a number of occasions and even through a number of different experiments does inform us that time too is a dimension and we should be able to move forward in time to the future as well as back in time to t o the past. His theory instructs us that time and spaces are actually closely connected. His theory has opened up a plethora of questions and two of them are; 1. ‘Why can’t can’t we move back move back and forth in time just as we move back and forth in space?’ 2. Why does that time only move forward? Let us see how some of the Aayaths of the Quran point out these two concepts to us. I must mention here that there are many Aayaths and many concepts being described and pointed out to us with regard to the (
) as well as the concepts of space and time but I am
describing only the limited points that I perceive.
With regard to space, I discussed the objective that this universe or the (
) can be
viewed as a container of the Signs or the Aa yaths of Allah and it is through this space that we view them as they move in majestic and meticulous motion proclaiming the greatness and the magnificence of Allah Ta’aalah. Ta’aalah. Now let us consider this concept of time. Imagine the period after the ‘Big Bang’ The whole Universe is hurtling outwards. To us everything would be utter chaos. But over a few billion years we would see order we could sa y meticulous synchronized order falling in to place. Scientists tell us that it took around 9 billion years for Planet Earth to fall into place and to begin forming as the Planet to sustain life. So we know that after over 9 billion years only did our solar s ystem begin to start ‘ticking’. ‘ticking’ . Why do I use the word ‘ticking’? It is because the elements necessary for us humans to understand the concept of time began to fall in to place only after the solar system was formed. Before this event there was no way we could understand time as a dimension. To our untrained eyes and intelligence i ntelligence everything, every movement would have been so random that we would not have been able to discern time. 8
For time to be discernible it is necessary that there should be movement, not just movement but regular movement, and this regular movement should be recordable or register-able to our senses. I would like to quote a few lines from the VDO documentary titled ‘The illusion of time’ “The first clock was one that you could say ticks just once a day: That was the rotating Earth. From the repetition of our planet's daily rotation on its axis to its yearly orbit around around the sun, we have always used the predictable, consistent consistent motion of the Earth to measure time. We're always looking for things that repeat over and over again, and that repetition, that cycle of things, forms a clock. Time is after all some regular observable repetitive process. Measuring the Earth's motion with a sundial, sundial, we divided the day into hours. hours. The Earth rotates once a day and we tick off the days by looking at the rising and the setting of the sun. With the swing of a pendulum, we divided hours into minutes and seconds. With the vibration of a quartz crystal, we improved accuracy to the thousandths of a second. But the National Institute of Standards and and Technology in Colorado Colorado is the place to go if you really want to know what time it is. It doesn't get any more accurate than this. Here, they measure time with mind-boggling accuracy using one of the smallest objects in the universe: an atom of a rare metal called cesium. Atoms have a natural frequency. frequency. And anything that vibrates, that is giving you repetitive motion, can be a clock. The frequency at at which the cesium atom ticks is the official timekeeper for the world. When a cesium atom is bombarded with energy, it vibrates, or ticks, giving off pulses of light over nine billion times a second. We count the ticks of the cesium atom. And the cesium atom ticks at this 9,192,631,770 9,192,631,770 ticks in a second. And so every time you count up to that that number, one second has gone by. And you get one second after one second, after one second after one second. This is just astounding. astounding. My watch gains or loses a second every couple of months. months. We're talking about clocks that would only gain or lose a second in 100 million years. This is just astounding. astounding. My watch gains or loses a second every couple of months. months. We're talking about clocks that would only gain or lose a second in 100 million years. But no matter how accurate our our clocks have become, time remains a mystery. Clocks can tell us what time it is, but they haven't been able to tell us what time itself is. What is it we're actually measuring? We may not know what time is, but the experience of t he passage of time is a fundamental part of our lives” That was a few lines that I quoted from the BBC VDO documentary titled ‘The ‘ The Illusion of time’ time ’ 9
Interesting isn’t it? So let me now recapitulate. We have this continuously expanding Universe which Allah draws our attention to with the phrase (
) which is repeated at least le ast 129 times in the Quran.
This Universe or this (
) will self-destruct one day and the Quran warns us about
this day in many ways. Allah displays His Aayaths in this Universe or ( describe the objectives of the creation of this Universe or the (
) and these Aayaths even ).
The dimension of time as experienced in this Universe points out with certainty that there is no turning back from some inevitability that we are al l hurling towards. Should we not through Zikr or contemplative research of the Aayaths of Allah tr y to work out the message and the lessons that all these Aayath in the (
) is proclaiming?
I sincerely hope and hope that all of you benefit from these talks as much as I benefit from preparing and then presenting these talks to you. you. May Allah Ta’aalah guide us all and accept us all . Jazza Kalla Khairan. Assalamu Alaikum Imtiaz Muhsin
Colombo Sri Lanka
[email protected] You Tube Channel - HaneefanMusliman
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