Creation of the Universe in the Quran

Creation of the Universe in the Quran

📖Quran 21:30
Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?

• The concept of ‘heavens and earth’ can be understood in the context of both scientific and certain religious beliefs. Scientifically, the universe itself emerged at the moment of the Big Bang. This theory describes the origin of the entire universe from a singularity, which was an extremely hot and dense state. It’s from this singularity that everything we know, including space, time, matter, and energy, began to expand and evolve. In the Quran 21:30, ‘heavens and earth’ are seen as the early stages, which include space, time, matter, and energy. Then, in the Quran, Allah described another creation, which is the complete formation that took 6 days. These days don’t refer to earthly 24-hour; rather, these 6 Days in the Quran represent different periods of time.

Releted: Big Bang Theory mentioned in Quran

Releted: The Shape of the Earth in Quran

Why Does the Quran Refer to ‘Heavens and Earth’ within the Big Bang?

In older English and in historical contexts, the term “heavens” was often used to refer to what we now understand as space, the celestial realm, and the cosmic expanse. This usage reflects the historical understanding of the universe before modern scientific discoveries. Nowadays, the term “heavens” is more commonly associated with the celestial realm or the sky in a religious or poetic context, while “space” is used in scientific discussions to refer to the vast expanse beyond Earth’s atmosphere and within the context of the Big Bang theory, the Earth’s fundamental building blocks and the material that eventually formed the Earth were present.

📖Quran 79:27-29
Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it. He raised its ceiling and proportioned it. And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.

• This verse marks the beginning of the universe, with ‘heaven’ referring to the cosmos, including space and other objects that existed before Earth’s formation. The phrase ‘And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness’ indicates the presence of the sun before Earth’s formation, Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, a group of protostars, one of which would eventually become our Sun, formed from a cloud of debris left by prior star explosions in the Milky Way. After the formation of the Sun, planets like Earth formed within the solar nebula, which was a rotating disk of gas and dust surrounding the young Sun. This process of planet formation took place over a significant span of time.

Reference: Solar System Timeline

📖Quran 79:30
And after that He spread the earth.

• It is important to note that Earth, in a sense, was spread out known as a “protoplanetary disk” before its formation because the cosmic material itself makes up Earth today, and it was present before the formation of the Sun. The cosmic dust and gases that compose Earth’s composition initially scattered and spread out across space. Over eons, these dispersed particles gradually coalesced due to gravitational attraction, forming a celestial body known as Earth. As time passed, the relentless pull of gravity molded this nascent planet into a spherical form, creating the world we know today. It is important to note that within the context of discussing the origin and composition of Earth, we are referring to the cosmic dust and gases that contributed to Earth’s formation as part of what constitutes Earth itself. The materials that make up celestial bodies like the Sun, Moon, and Earth are not all the same. Each of these bodies has a unique composition. So, While there may be some common elements found in the Sun, Moon, and Earth, their overall compositions are indeed fundamentally different. Each of these celestial bodies has a unique composition, and not all elements are shared among them.

Reference: How and when did the early Earth form?

The Formation of the Universe

📖Quran 41:9-12 | Quran 2:29
Say, “Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds, And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures’] sustenance in four days without distinction – for [the information] of those who ask, Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, “Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion.” They said, “We have come willingly.” And He completed them as seven heavens within two days and inspired in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.

• According to these verses, Earth was formed before heaven (Atmosphere). In Islam, there are seven heavens and seven Earths, similar to our planet, created by God after Earth’s formation. In verse 41:12, the phrase ‘Then He directed Himself to the heaven’ refers to the cosmos, including space, stars, and the sun, which already existed. In Quran 21:30, science aligns with the Big Bang theory, where space and time emerged with the universe’s expansion long before Earth. The Sun had formed (Quran 79:27-29), but Earth’s specific atmosphere, referred to as the ‘layer of gases around Earth. It includes the visible sky, which appears blue during the day, but it’s not just that. The atmosphere is a mix of gases like nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, crucial for our air and influencing climate and weather, while the sky is part of it, the atmosphere extends beyond what we see as the sky,’ developed over time during its formation. the phrase ‘Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke’ refer to the cosmic dark ages with a fog of neutral hydrogen, present during Earth’s formation, making it challenging for light from early stars and galaxies to travel through space.

Reference: The Beginning to the End of the Universe: The cosmic dark ages

• When Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago from a hot mix of gases and solids, it had almost no atmosphere. The surface was molten. As Earth cooled, an atmosphere formed mainly from gases spewed from volcanoes. It included hydrogen sulfide, methane, and ten to 200 times as much carbon dioxide as today’s atmosphere.

Reference: The Earliest Atmosphere

Summary:

In Islam and various other scriptures, ‘heaven’ is often described as something above the Earth, which is also a part of the atmosphere and space. The word ‘heaven’ is also used within the context as a place where believers will reside eternally, typically refers to a spiritual or heavenly realm that is beyond the physical world and exists outside of space.

Reference: Heaven Definition

📖Quran 10:5
It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases – that you may know the number of years and account [of time]. Allah has not created this except in truth. He details the signs for a people who know.

• The Quran consistently mentions the sun first because it existed before the formation of Earth, and the moon was created later. As previously mentioned, Quran 79:27-29 illustrates this pattern.

Reference: Did the moon form after earth?