God Arises
The Challenge of The Qur’an
~ 359 ~
Up until barely a century ago, the concept of this
material universe as having a beginning and an end
was something which appeared to have its origin in
religiously inspired texts, but which did not seem to
have any scientific basis in fact. Of the origin of the
universe, the Quran said:
“Do not the disbelievers see that the heavens
and the earth were one solid mass which was
tore asunder, and that we made every living
thing of water? Will they not have faith?”
(12:30).
But now we find that modern studies in astronomy
have confirmed the truth of this concept, various
observations having led scientists to postulate that
the universe was formed by an explosion from a
state of high density and temperature (the “big-
bang” theory) and that the cosmos evolved from the
original, highly compressed, extremely hot gas,
taking the form of galaxies of stars, cosmic dust,
meteorites and asteroids. The present outward
motion of the galaxies is a result of this explosion.
According to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica
(1984), this
is “the theory now favored by most cosmologists.”
