The Qur'an and Modern Science... Compatible or Incompatible? (Part 5)

The Qur'an and Modern Science... 
Compatible or Incompatible? (From the book, Part 5)


THE SUN WILL EXTINGUISH
The light of the sun is due to a chemical process on
its surface that has been taking place continuously
for the past five billion years. It will come to an end
at some point of time in the future, when the sun
will be totally extinguished, leading to extinction of
all life on earth. Regarding the impermanence of the
sun’s existence, the Qur’an says:

“And the Sun runs its course for a period determined for it; that is the decree of (Him) the exalted in Might, the All-Knowing.”
[Al-Qur’an 36:38]1

The Arabic word used here is mustaqarr, which
means a place or time that is determined. Thus the
Qur’an says that the sun runs towards a determined
place, and will do so only up to a pre-determined
period of time – meaning that it will end or
extinguish.

INTERSTELLAR MATTER
Space outside organized astronomical systems was
earlier assumed to be a vacuum. Astrophysicists
later discovered the presence of bridges of matter
in this interstellar space. These bridges of matter
are called plasma, and consist of completely ionized
gas containing equal number of free electrons and
positive ions. Plasma is sometimes called the fourth
state of matter (besides the three known states
viz. solid, liquid and gas). The Qur’an refers to
the presence of this interstellar material in the
following verse:

“He Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between.”
[Al-Qur’an 25:59]

(A similar message is conveyed in the Qur’an in 13:2, 35:13,
39:5 and 39:21.)

It would be ridiculous for anyone to even suggest
that the presence of interstellar galactic material
was known 1400 years ago!

THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE
In 1925, American astronomer Edwin Hubble,
provided observational evidence that all galaxies
are moving away from one another, which implies
that the universe is expanding. The expansion of the
universe is now an established scientific fact. This is
what the Qur’an says regarding the nature of the
universe:

“With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: For it is We Who create the vastness of Space.”
[Al-Qur’an 51:47]

The Arabic word musioon is correctly translated as
‘expanding it’, and it refers to the creation of the
expanding vastness of the universe.
One of the greatest astrophysicist Stephen
Hawking, in his book, ‘A Brief History of Time’,
says, “The discovery that the universe is expanding
was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the
20th century.” The Qur’an mentioned the expansion
of the universe, before man even learnt to build a
telescope!

Some may say that the presence of astronomical
facts in the Qur’an is not surprising since the Arabs
were advanced in the field of astronomy. They are
correct in acknowledging the advancement of the
Arabs in the field of astronomy. However they fail
to realize that the Qur’an was revealed centuries
before the Arabs excelled in astronomy. Moreover
many of the scientific facts mentioned above, such
as the origin of the universe with a Big Bang, were
not known to the Arabs even at the peak of their
scientific advancement. The scientific facts
mentioned in the Qur’an are therefore not due to the
Arabs’ advancement in astronomy. Indeed, the
reverse is true: they advanced in astronomy,
because astronomy occupies a place in the Qur’an.