SCIENCE AND BELIEF IN GOD
Science is the expression of that knowledge of Nature about which the Quran had predicted in these words:
“We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth.” (41:53)
In light of modern scientific findings, the new picture of the emerging universe resonates very closely with what was presented well in advance in the Quran. In this sense, contemporary scientific discoveries are, as it were, a detailed explanation of and elaboration on brief statements given in the Quran, as well as evidence for the veracity of the Quran.
According to modern scientific discoveries, the universe began some 14 billion years ago. After that, passing through different stages of transformation, it arrived in its present form. The record of this entire journey can be found in various books. Besides, one can visit a good planetarium to get a feel for it. I witnessed this at The National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC during one of my visits to the US. A brief introduction to this is given below.
According to a scientific study, 13.8 billion years ago, a superatom appeared in the universe. It was a collection of all the particles found in the existing cosmos. It seems as if the entire universe was compressed into an immensely large, intense, and mutually interacting ball of particles in inward motion. All the particles within this ball were intricately connected to each other with an infinite gravitational force. According to the laws of natural physics, they could not separate and travel in an outward direction.
At that moment, a tremendous explosion occurred within this superatom. Immediately after this explosion, the particles of the superatom scattered and began to travel rapidly in outward directions. Subsequently, these particles gathered in various formations in the vast expanse of space. From these formations, celestial bodies were created and described in terms such as stars, planets, galaxies, solar systems, the earth, and the moon.
The explosion of the super-atom simultaneously establishes two things. One that there is a powerful entity distinct from the universe, which was already present and intervened of its own will, causing an extraordinary event where the particles of the super-atom started travelling in an outward motion instead of the inward motion, which was its original path.
The second significant aspect of this incident is that an explosion always results in destructive consequences. From firecrackers to bombs, every explosion invariably has a destructive property. However, the explosion of the superatom was exceptionally non-destructive. It produced only healthy and constructive results.
This exceptional event is evidence that the Creator of the universe is the possessor of unlimited power and is the Lord and Master of the universe. He has a unique ability to exercise complete control over events and, along with this, over their results.
Scientific studies also tell us that this universe is an expanding universe. Like a balloon, it is constantly expanding in the outward direction. From this, it can be proven that the universe had a definite beginning. It would have ended if it had been eternal because of its expanding nature. Therefore, it is proved that the universe has a beginning and that some pre-existing Being must have caused it to begin. For, a previously non-existent thing to come into being can only be possible if before it came into being, something or someone else existed who, through his will, caused it to come into being. Therefore, this is convincing evidence for the existence of a Creator, God Almighty, who pre-existed in the universe and who caused it to come into being by His will.
Uncountable phenomena in the universe prove that the Planner and Administrator of the universe are just One. The universe would have been chaotic if there had been more than one administrator.
Consider the following facts to understand this point: The distance between the Earth and the Sun is around 93 million miles. This distance has been continuously maintained over millions of years. If any substantial change were to occur in this distance, it would have disastrous results. For example, if this distance were to increase to double, the Earth would turn so cold that water, animals, and humans would all freeze. On the other hand, if this distance were halved, the Earth would become so hot that everything, including man, would burn up and be finished off.
This proves that the God of the sun and the earth are the same. If the Earth and the sun had two separate gods, both would want to run things according to their respective wills and then the distance between the sun and the Earth would keep increasing or decreasing. Due to this irregularity, human civilization on Earth would have been impossible.
In the vast unknown universe, our planet Earth is a rare exception. There are countless things, like water, air, and plants, which are essential for human life, whereas elsewhere in the vast space, as far as man has come to know so far, there is no place where these things are present. This exception reveals that this Earth did not come about through unconscious matter acting independently, as atheists might argue. Instead, it must undoubtedly be the creative miracle of a conscious Being. Had it been the product of mere material forces, there would be many more such locales like Earth in the universe, and not just one.
Everything in our universe is exceedingly meaningful. The meaningfulness of things proves that this world is the creation of a conscious Creator. No other explanation can account for this meaningfulness. For example, take the size of the Earth. The equatorial circumference of the Earth is around 25,000 miles. This size is immensely significant. Had this figure been 50,000 miles, the Earth’s gravity would be so much that it would have halted the physical growth of the human body. Because of this, only dwarf-like people would be seen on Earth. On the other hand, if this figure had been 12,000 miles, the Earth’s gravity would have been so low that it would not have been able to stop the growth of the human body, as a result of which human beings would be like palm trees! Besides this, various unfavourable conditions would have been produced, rendering all of man’s civilizational progress impossible.
If one reflects on these aspects, one learns that from the scientific point of view, there is no option but to accept that there is indeed a Creator of this universe and that He is most definitely just one.
