The Creation of the Universe

[bdb85]

What do Muslims/the Koran say about the creation of the universe? Does it believe, as Christians do, that it was created in 6 days? Is there any indication as to how old the earth actually is in the Koran?

[abd-allah]

salaam alaikum,
bdb85, As per the Bible, in the first book of Genesis in Chapter One, the universe was created in six days and each day is defined as a twenty-four hours period. Even though the Qur’an mentions that the universe was created in six ‘Ayyaams’, ‘Ayyaam’ is the plural of years; this word has two meanings: firstly, it means a standard twenty-four hours period i.e. a day, and secondly, it also means stage, period or epoch which is a very long period of time.

When the Qur’an mentions that the universe was created in six ‘Ayyaams’, it refers to the creation of the heavens and the earth in six long periods or epochs; scientists have no objection to this statement. The creation of the universe has taken billions of years, which proves false or contradicts the concept of the Bible which states that the creation of the Universe took six days of twenty-four hour durations each.

and the bible says God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day. (Genesis 1:1 to 2:2) but the creator of the universe has not rested according to koran, koran says surah 10 verse 3: Verily your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and is firmly established on the throne (of authority), regulating and governing all things. No intercessor (can plead with Him) except after His leave (hath been obtained). This is Allah your Lord; Him therefore serve ye: will ye not receive admonition?

hope i have answered your question.......

[bdb85]

Thank you for your answer.
I have to say, that even though I am not Muslim (or really Christian either-I stopped going to church some time ago) this version of creation is much more reasonable than the explinations other religions argue, such as the absurdity of the Universe being created in 6 24 hour days, or of the Earth being only 10,000 years old.
It is good to see that there is a religion that acknowledges the true age of the universe, it seems to go along very much with scientific findings on this subject.

This brings me to a more general question--is there anything in the Koran, or in Muslim belief, that would come in conflict with what is written in most High School level Biology books (besides the fact that these books do not speak of God), such as evolution, the way in which the universe was formed, etc?

[abd-allah]

Thank you for your answer.
I have to say, that even though I am not Muslim (or really Christian either-I stopped going to church some time ago) this version of creation is much more reasonable than the explinations other religions argue, such as the absurdity of the Universe being created in 6 24 hour days, or of the Earth being only 10,000 years old.
It is good to see that there is a religion that acknowledges the true age of the universe, it seems to go along very much with scientific findings on this subject.

This brings me to a more general question--is there anything in the Koran, or in Muslim belief, that would come in conflict with what is written in most High School level Biology books (besides the fact that these books do not speak of God), such as evolution, the way in which the universe was formed, etc?

Quran says a community was cursed to become monkeys and the science says man is evolved from the monkeys , i cannot believe that adam and eve were monkeys or apes ...
you better visit these sites , i am sure if you are a truth seeker you will become a muslim within few days , you can even ask questions on these sites ,sites are as follows:

http://www.islamtomorrow.com/science/
http://www.islam-guide.com/
http://www.beconvinced.com/SPEECHES.htm

please do reply me about these sites................

[Hischam Khan]

bdb85,

A most hearty welcome, I hope you will have a long and joyful stay with us, God willing.

I thought you may like to have a read through an answer recently posted on the main site. It's a bit long but I take it you have quite an interest in this topic so I really think you'll find it of interest. It's called 'The Theory of Natural Selection and the Existence of God'. I think it touches upon the topic you are taking about (evolution) but incase I'm mistaken, let me know as it may have been another one and I'll be sure to then provide it Inshallah.

peace.

[MF]

the science says man is evolved from the monkeys , i cannot believe that adam and eve were monkeys or apes ...

"If someone advocates that the modern synthesis of evolution posits that humans come from monkeys, you can be sure that they do not understand what evolutionary theory actually is." (wonderful quote from Vajradhara)
http://forums.understanding-islam.or...read.php?t=434

Some muslims scholars accept parts of evolution and reject parts. For example they accept adaptation but reject life as the result of coincidence, but that would not come in conflict with what is written in most High School level Biology books.. if you read the creation of adam and eva as a metaphor.

[bdb85]

Well, I must say that Muslims seem much more reasonable than Christians on this issue. I also appreciate that they see religion and science as complimentary to one another, instead of as seperate and in competiton with one another.

[Ansar Al-Haq]

Br. Benjamin,

Please read the following:
http://www.creationofuniverse.com/
The authour happens to be a big opponent of evoloution, but the link from Hischam puts things into prespective nicely.

Also:
http://www.kyaz.com/English/ModernScience.html

[Ahmed Waheed]

Assalam . . .

Jazak-Allah. The two sites do sound quite interesting and Insha-Allah I'll take a look if they start working here. Their not working properly in my place; they just start flickerring on the screen abit and then exit Internet Explorer.

However that's not gonna stop me from adding to this thread. Firstly, let us look at it from the Quranic view point. The Quran expresses such info in the most beautiful ways. e.g. for that would be "BIG BANG"; refer to Surah al-Anbiyah 21: verse 30 and onwards for abit more info.

Wassalam . . .

[Vajradhara]

Thank you for your answer.
I have to say, that even though I am not Muslim (or really Christian either-I stopped going to church some time ago) this version of creation is much more reasonable than the explinations other religions argue, such as the absurdity of the Universe being created in 6 24 hour days, or of the Earth being only 10,000 years old.
It is good to see that there is a religion that acknowledges the true age of the universe, it seems to go along very much with scientific findings on this subject.

This brings me to a more general question--is there anything in the Koran, or in Muslim belief, that would come in conflict with what is written in most High School level Biology books (besides the fact that these books do not speak of God), such as evolution, the way in which the universe was formed, etc?

hmm...

did you know that both Sanatana Dharma and Buddha Dharma are the only religious paths on earth that have a correct time scale for the observed age of the universe? both of the Dharmas put the beginning of this cycle about 14 billion years ago.

the Mayans also have a view that is quite long in time, though they are only in the millions of years.

interestingly, the Mayan calendar ends on Dec 24, 2012 where "time will begin again" as they say.

[Vajradhara]

oh... and i should like to say that, by and large, the majority of Christians in the world do not hold the same views as the American Evangelica movement, which insists on a literal 6 Day creation and Special Creation.

most of the Christians from Europe are quite bewildered about their American brethren and sistern in their approach to the Bible and, by and large, they do not share their views concerning the YEC (Young Earth CreationISM) theories.

there are many Christians that are open to science and it's methodologies and so forth. the erstwhile Charles Darwin was a Christian, for instance, as well as the bloke that coined the phrase "Big Bang".

interestingly, that phrase "big bang" was coined to ridicule the theory of Rapid Inflation of the Universe, which stood in opposition to the Stead State theory of the time.

for my Muslim friends. if you pin your creation accounts to the Rapid Inflationary theory, how do you reconcile Super String or the No Boundary Proposal? moreover, if the Rapid Inflationary theory turns out to be incorrect, and we're seeing more and more evidence for this, how will that impact your view of Al Qur'an?

[Ansar Al-Haq]

hmm...

did you know that both Sanatana Dharma and Buddha Dharma are the only religious paths on earth that have a correct time scale for the observed age of the universe? both of the Dharmas put the beginning of this cycle about 14 billion years ago.

Could you provide some evidence for this? Some quotes from scriptures?

if you pin your creation accounts to the Rapid Inflationary theory, how do you reconcile Super String or the No Boundary Proposal? moreover, if the Rapid Inflationary theory turns out to be incorrect, and we're seeing more and more evidence for this, how will that impact your view of Al Qur'an?

It only affects our interpretation of the Qur'an.

Anyway, the string theories have their problems too. And to my knowledge, the No Boundary Proposal adds to the knowledge we have from the Big Bang theory. Hawking says:
...the universe has not existed for ever. Rather, the universe, and time itself, had a beginning in the Big Bang, about 15 billion years ago. The beginning of real time, would have been a singularity, at which the laws of physics would have broken down. Nevertheless, the way the universe began, would have been determined by the laws of physics, if the universe satisfied the no boundary condition. This says that in the imaginary time direction, spacetime is finite in extent, but doesn't have any boundary or edge.* (Sahih )

Science is like a maze. It takes turns. I use to think that the scientific miracles of the Qur'an were the miracles for the people of this age and that the linguistic miracles were for people before. But these miracles are only secondary. The true miracle of the Qur'an is:
THE MIRACLE OF SUPREME GUIDANCE
Anyone who reads the Qur'an with understanding, or perhaps Ulool Al-Baab, know what I am talking about.

The Qur'an detects the thoughts of the reader and provides hundreds of answers in every single verse to whatever we are thinking about. God speaks to us through the Qur'an.

thats all for now...
Ansar

[Ansar Al-Haq]

In A Brief History of Time Hawking writes:

One could say: "The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no boundary." The universe would be completely self-contained and not affected by anything outside itself. It would neither be created nor destroyed. It would just BE.

36:82. Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, "Be!" and it is!

36:83. So Glorified is He and Exalted above all that they associate with Him, and in Whose Hands is the dominion of all things, and to Him you shall be returned.

Also, hawking says:
I still believe the universe has a beginning in real time, at the big bang. But there's another kind of time, imaginary time, at right angles to real time, in which the universe has no beginning or end. This would mean that the way the universe began would be determined by the laws of physics. One wouldn't have to say that God chose to set the universe going in some arbitrary way that we couldn't understand. It says nothing about whether or not God exists - just that He isn't arbitrary.

and:
...I thought the no boundary proposal, implied that the universe had to be spatially closed, and finite in size. But a few months ago, Neil Turok and I, were talking about his ideas on open inflation. We realized that they could be fitted in with the no boundary proposal. The universe would still be closed and finite, in one way of looking at it. But in another, it would appear open and infinite.*

[Ansar Al-Haq]

Verses of the Qur'an on time:

76:1. Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was nothing to be mentioned?

45:24 And they say: "What is there but our life in this world? We shall die and we live, and nothing but time can destroy us." But of that they have no knowledge: they merely conjecture:

39:5 He created the heavens and the earth in true (proportions): He makes the Night overlap the Day, and the Day overlap the Night: He has subjected the sun and the moon (to His law): Each one follows a course for a time appointed. Is not He the Exalted in Power - He Who forgives again and again?

more to come later insha'allah.

[hasan]

http://forums.understanding-islam.or...9&postcount=15