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Synopsis of the Addendum Of the book:
The Origin of the Universe
By Dr. Yousuf Y. Al-Sultan
Islamic
Perspectives of the
Origin
of the Universe
After translating the eight chapters of the book, and in a separate comprehensive chapter (chapter Nine) Dr. Al-Sultan emphasized on the “Islamic Perspectives of the Origin of the Universe”.
He emphasized that the Holy Quran stresses and encourages upon the quest of knowledge and research in all aspects of life, universe and surroundings to discover facts, and further urges humankind to propose theories and hypotheses as well as investigating and researching all aspects of sciences.
This is clearly stated in Sura Ha-Mim (Abbreviated Letters, or Ha-Mim, or Fussilat; Aya 53 that:
* Soon
will We show them
Our Signs in the (furthest)
Regions (of the earth), and
In their own souls, until
It becomes manifest to them
That this is the Truth.
Is it not enough that
Thy Lord doth witness
All things?
In this chapter, the author of the addendum derives support from earlier studies for the understanding and comprehension of the Holy Quran.
In answering the question: What is the Universe? Dr. Al-Sultan emphasizes the scientific, and recent interpretation of the following Ayas:
First: Sura An-Nur, or Light, Aya 43:
*
Seest thou not that Allah
Makes the clouds move
Gently, then joins them
Together, then makes them
Into a heap? –Then wilt thou
See rain issue forth
From their midst. And He
Sends down from the sky
Mountain masses (of clouds)
Wherein is hail: He strikes
Therewith whom He pleases
And He turns it away
From whom He pleases
The vivid flash of His lightning
Well-nigh blinds the sight.
Second: Sura Abasa or He Frowned – Ayas 24 till 32:
*
Then let man look
At his Food,
(And how We provide it):
* For that We pour forth
Water in abundance,
*
And We split the earth
In Fragments,
* And produce there in Corn
* And Grapes and nutritious Plants
* And Olives and Dates,
*
And enclosed Gardens,
Dense with lofty trees,
* And Fruits and Fodder,
*
For use and convenience
For you and your cattle.
Third: Sura Al-Haj, or The Pilgrimage, Aya 5:
*
O mankind! if ye have
A doubt about the Resurrection,
(Consider) that We created you
Out of dust, then out of
Sperm, then out of a leech-like
Clot, then out of a morsel
Of flesh, partly formed
And partly unformed, in order
That We may manifest
(Our power) to you;
And We cause whom We will
To rest in the wombs
For an appointed term,
Then do We bring you out
As babes, then (foster you)
That ye may reach your age
Of full strength; and some
Of you are called to die,
And some are sent back
To the feeblest old age,
So that they know nothing
After having known (much).
And (further), thou seest
The earth barren and lifeless,
But when We pour down
Rain on it, it stirred
(To life), it swells,
And it puts forth every kind
Of beautiful growth (in pairs).
Fourth: Sura Ash-Shu’araa, or The Poets , Aya 7:
*
Do they not look
At the earth, -how many
Noble things of all kinds
We have produced there in?
Refering to the creation of the skies, the sun, stars, the earth and the moon; the author of the addendum cites the following from the Holy Quran:
1. Sura Qaf, Aya 6:
*
Do they not look
At the sky above them? –
How We have made it
And adorned it,
And there are no
Flaws in it?
2. Sura Al-Furqan or The Criterion, Ayas 45 and 46:
*
Hast thou not turned
Thy vision to thy Lord? –
How He doth prolong
The Shadow! If He willed,
He could make it stationary!
Then do We make
The sun its guide;
*
Then We draw it in
Towards Ourselves, -
A contraction by easy stages.
3- Sura Al-Waqia or The Inevitable Event, Ayas 75 and 76:
*
Furthermore I call
To witness the settings
Of the Stars, -
*
And that is indeed
A mighty adjuration
If ye but knew, -
4- Sura Al-Dukhan, or Smoke (or Mist), Ayas 38 and 39:
*
We created not
The heavens, the earth,
And all between them,
Merely in (idle) sport;
*
We created them not
Except for just ends;
But most of them
Do not understand.
5- In Sura Yunus or Jonah, Aya 5:
*
It is He who made the sun
To be a shining glory
And the moon to be a light
(Of beauty), and measured out
Stages for her, that ye might
Know the number of years
And the count (of time).
Nowise did Allah create this
But in truth and righteousness.
(Thus) doth He explain His Signs
In detail, for those who understand.
Dr. Al-Sultan further illustrated-beyond doubt- that the Holy Quran has refered to the origin of the Universe – as claimed in interpretations of the following Ayas.
1. Sura Al-Ankabut, or The Spider, Ayas 19 and 20:
*
See they not how Allah
Originates creation, then
Repeats it: truly that
Is easy for Allah.
*
Say: “Travel through the earth
And see how Allah did
Originate creation; so will
Allah produce a later creation;
For Allah has power
Over all things.
2. Sura Al-Mulk, or Dominion, Ayas from 1 to 4:
*
Blessed be He
In Whose hands
Is Dominion;
And He over all things
Hath Power; -
* He
who created Death
And Life, that He
May try which of you
Is best in deed:
And He is the Exalted
In Might, Oft – Forgiving; -
*
He Who created
The seven heavens
One above another:
No want of proportion
Wilt thou see
In the Creation
Of (Allah) Most Gracious.
So turn thy vision again:
Seest thou any flaw?
*
Again turn thy vision
A second time: (thy) vision
Will come back to thee
Dull and discomfited,
In a state worn out.
3. Sura Al-Baqarah or The Heifer, Ayas 115 till 117:
*
To Allah belong the East
And the West: withersoever
Ye turn, there is the Presence,
Of Allah For Allah is All-Pervading,
All-Knowing.
*
They say: “Allah hath begotten
A son”: Glory be to Him. –Nay,
To Him belongs all
That is in the heavens
And on earth: everything
Renders worship to Him.
To Him is due
*
The primal origin
Of the heavens and the earth:
When He decreeth a matter,
He saith to it: “Be”,
And it is.
4- Sura Al-Hijr, or The Rocky Tract, Ayas from 14 to 18:
*
Even if We opened out to them
A gate from heaven,
And they were to continue
(All day) ascending therein,
* They would only say:
“Our eyes have been intoxicated:
Nay, we have been bewitched
By Sorcery”.
*
It is We who have set out
The Zodiacal Signs in the heavens
And made them fair–seeming
To (all) beholders;
*
And (moreover) We have guarded them
From every evil spirit accursed:
*
But any that gains a hearing
By stealth, is pursued
By flaming fire, bright (to see).
5- Sura Saba, or The City of Saba, Aya 9:
*
See they not what is
Before them and behind them,
Of the sky and the earth?
If We wished, We could
Cause the earth to swallow
Them up, or cause a piece
Of the sky to fall upon them.
Verily in this is a Sign
For every devotee that
Turns to Allah (in repentance).
The initiation of the universe by creating heavens and earth and hence the creation of sun and moon and other galaxies which was described scientifically by “The Big Bang” was emphasized and described in the Holy Quran more than fourteen centuries ago.
Such events and creation of mountains are presented in the Sura Al-Anbiyaa (or The Prophets), Ayas from 30 to 33.
*
Do not the Unbelievers see
That the heavens and the earth
Were joined together (as one
Unit of Creation), before
We clove them asunder?
We made from water
Every living thing. Will they
Not then believe?
*
And We have set on the earth
Mountains standing firm,
Lest it should shake with them,
And We have made therein
Broad highways (between mountains)
For them to pass through:
That they may receive guidance.
*
And We have made
The heavens as a canopy
Well guarded: yet do they
Turn away from the Signs
Which these things (point to)!
*
It is He Who created
The Night and the Day,
And the sun and the moon:
All (the celestial bodies)
Swim along, each in its
Rounded Course.
All the previosly mentioned, and much more is a solid, great evidence that the Holy Quran is from God.
There is no contradiction between the Quranic citations and the latest scientific discoveries – and there will not be at any time till the end of the Universe.
The comprehensiveness, deep-insight, and good command of the commentators and translators makes reading the holy book-especially the addendum-a good mental journey and a marvelous mind adventure.