FROM THE SPIRITUAL TREE

At such a time, the Quran said: Do not those who deny the truth see that the heavens and the earth were joined together and that We then split them asunder? (21: 30) Up to about a hundred years ago, it was generally accepted that the universe existed in infinite time. Only now modern studies in astronomy have confirmed the truth of this Quranic verse. According to the prevailing and current scientific view of cosmology, the universe had a distinct and singular beginning about 13.7 billion years ago in what is commonly referred to as the Big Bang. This model of the universe also describes how the universe expanded from a very high density and high temperature state, offering a comprehensive explanation to various natural phenomena including the formation of galaxies, stars and planets, our Earth and the elements required to sustain life. The star nearest to Earth, apart from the sun, is called Proxima Centauri and is about 4.22 light-years away from us (meaning light from that star takes about 4.22 years to reach us) or about 40,208,000,000,000 kilometres. Our sun, in comparison, is just eight light-minutes away. The stars seem to be spread across the entire sky but are actually concentrated in one particular band, which we call the Milky Way galaxy. We now know that the Milky Way, our galaxy, is not the only galaxy. In 1924, the American astronomer Edwin Hubble found many others, with huge areas of empty space in between them. These galaxies were so far away that they appeared not to move at all and their distance from us could not be directly measured. Scientific developments have enabled us to study and observe these stars and galaxies which would not have been possible when the Quran was revealed in the 7th century AD. Another way to measure the distance of a star or galaxy from Earth is by its brightness. The temperature of a star can also be calculated by focusing a telescope on a particular distant star and passing its light through a prism. This light splits up into different colours which is then called the star’s spectrum. Different stars have different spectra, but a specific temperature shows a specific spectral pattern. If we know the temperature of a star, and therefore its luminosity, and its apparent brightness, its distance from Earth can be calculated. Up to about a hundred years ago, it was generally accepted that the universe existed in infinite time. Only now we find that modern studies in astronomy have confirmed the truth of this verse in the Quran.