View of the Holy Qur'an about the Universe

By: Mahdi La'li, Tehran, Iran
The Quran through some verses states that every existing thing in the universe is well balanced and measured:
-And the Earth have We spread out and cast headlands upon it, and planted a bit of everything to grow it there (so it is) well balanced 1. Chapter15: verse19
-And there is not a thing but with Us are the stores thereof. And We send it not down save in appointed measure 2. Chapter15: verse21
-And everything with Him is measured 3. Chapter13: verse8
-The sun and the moon follow a reckoning 4. Chapter55: verse5
-God has appointed a measure for everything 5. Chapter65: verse3
-He created the heavens and the earth with the truth, And He shaped you and shaped you well; and unto Him is the homecoming 6. Chapter64: verse3
Interestingly enough, this is a fact, which scientists perceive it in the creation. Scientists support the theory that all parts of creation occur in perfect balance and in precise amounts, which supports living, as we know it. For example, the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen in the air is 21%. What if this ratio were 50%? All the combustible materials on earth as well as plants and forests would burn as soon as they received the first flame of sky lightning.
All the animals breathe oxygen and breathe out the carbon dioxide, which is urgent for the genesis of plants. If this interchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between animals and plants did not occur in the nature, they would use up all the oxygen or all the carbon dioxide. Consequently, the plants would wither and animals would be condemned to die.
The sunlight reaches to us through a balanced distance between sun and earth. If this distance were further than what it is, everything would freeze. In addition, if it were less than what it is now, everything would burn out. ‘We are very fortune that the sun is exactly the way it is. If it were different in almost any way, life would almost certainly never have developed on earth’. 7
The intensity of sunlight maintains the perfect balance for our sustenance and existence. Scientists state that the growth of plants depends directly on sunlight. However, they require a definite amount of sunlight to flourish. If this intensity of sunlight changed, there would have been no possibility of plants’ existence and growth on earth.
When reproduction of a single cell takes place, we get double the matter from it. In addition, through the same input, the output depends on the genetic makeup. So how exactly it is balanced!
Scientists in all fields such as chemists and botanists believe that the existing materials in plants (without exception) occur in a measure according to a definite amount and a marvelous accuracy. Wonderfully, this is the way Quran speaks about the elements in plants and describes them as well-balanced.
When Einstein first studied the universe at large using the General Theory of Relativity he discovered that his equations predicted a universe, which was either expanding or contracting. The best astronomical observations at the time were used to challenge this concept. He then modified his equations to satisfy the observations. This modification corresponds to the assumption that the whole universe is permeated with a constant pressure (which in his case balanced the expansion yielding a steady universe). This universal pressure is called the cosmological constant.
If we perceive the world around us with a mystic vision and a logical mind, we certainly notice the precise reckoning and balance in all things. Have you ever happened to ask yourself about the creation of your body? Is it not really wonderful that we have eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to work, fingers to hold, teeth to chew, feet to walk and run, nose to smell, kidneys to purify the blood, brain to think and analyze etc? Why do these organs exist in our body? What would happen to our life if we omitted any of our body members and organs?
So, is not really the creation of our body in the best way it could be? If it is casual to be like this, then why does not any one dare to remove any of his body members, e.g. blind his eyes etc, unless he is insane? Alternatively, why does not any scientist venture to offer a better suggestion to improve the creation of human body? We may ponder this verse of the Quran:
-He created the heavens and the earth with the truth, and He shaped you and shaped you well; and unto Him is the homecoming. Chapter64: verse3
The following scientific passage indicates the scientists’ ideas concerning the existence of an intelligent designation in the well-balanced universe. Scientists see the world through this panorama. They believe that this world is fine-tuned to produce human life on earth as the fundamental constants of nature have made it quite suitable for us to live. Otherwise, there would not be any chance of our being here. This reminds us a verse of the Quran pointing to this principle:
-And [Allah] hath made of service unto you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth; it is all from Him. Lo! Herein verily are portents for people who reflect. Chapter45: verse 13

Scientific Viewpoint

Cosmythology
Was the universe designed to produce us 8?
Recent developments in modern cosmology seized upon research to provide scientific support for the notion of intelligent design to the universe. The latest version of the argument from design exists around the so-called Anthropic coincidences (Carter, 1974, 1983; Barrow and Tipler, 1986; Davies, 1982; Gribbin and Rees, 1989).
The Anthropic coincidences support the contention that the values of fundamental constants of nature are incredibly fine-tuned for the production of life-perhaps even human life. This fine-tuning is said to be far too unlikely to have been accidental and that the only reasonable conclusion is intelligent design, with human life as the intent. Holmes Rolston, for example, in The Christian Century called it "Shaken Atheism" (1986), Sharon Begley in Newsweek described it as "Science and the Sacred" (1994), while Robert Wright asked in Time, "What does science tell us about God?" (1992).

Tuned For Life
No doubt, the universe would look quite different with the tiniest variation of the basic constants of physics. A slight difference in the strength of gravity, the charge of the electron, or the mass of the neutron, life as we know it would not exist.
The human race could not have evolved in a universe with different constants. Those who promote the notion of intelligent design think they have found confirmation in the way the universe seems to be exquisitely balanced on the tip of a needle for the purpose, they argue, of producing us.
Yet, no theory including the currently highly successful Standard Model of elementary particles and forces, predicts the values of the fundamental constants of the universe. None is able to specify such basic facts about the universe as why the proton has the mass it does, or why the hydrogen atom has the size it does. In the Standard Model, the basic constants of the universe must still be inserted by hand.
The element-synthesizing processes in stars depended sensitively on the properties and abundance of deuterium and helium produced in the early universe. Deuterium would not exist if the neutron-proton mass difference were just slightly different from its actual value. The relative abundance of hydrogen and helium also depends strongly on this parameter.
The hydrogen-helium abundance also requires a delicate balance of the relative strengths of the gravitational and the weak nuclear interaction. Any minor increase in this force and the universe would be 100 percent hydrogen, since all the neutrons in the early universe would then have decayed. An even the slightest reduction in force and few neutrons would decay before being bound up with protons in helium nuclei where insufficient energy prevents their decay. In this case, all the proton utilization would change and lead to a universe that was 100 percent helium. Neither of these extremes would have allowed for the existence of stars and life based on chemistry.
This tightrope balance includes the electron, which is a requirement to produce the heavier elements. Because the electron mass is less than the neutron-proton mass difference, a free neutron can decay into a proton, electron and neutrino. If this were not the case, the neutron would be stable and most of the protons and electrons in the early universe would have combined to form neutrons, leaving little hydrogen to act as the main component and fuel of stars.
It is also rather convenient that the neutron is heavier than the proton, but not so much heavier that neutrons are restricted from bonding in nuclei. The evolution of life on earth thus depends critically on these relative force strengths and mass differences. With the slightest change of these values, the variety and diversity of the chemical elements would not exist.
Carbon appears to be the chemical element best suited to act as the building block for the type of complex molecular systems that develop lifelike qualities. Even today, new materials assembled from carbon atoms exhibit remarkable, unexpected properties, from superconductivity to ferromagnetism.
However, it is carbon chauvinism to assume that only carbon life is possible. We can imagine life based on silicon or other elements chemically similar to carbon, but these would still require cooking in stars. Hydrogen, helium, and lithium, which were synthesized in the big bang, are all chemically too simple to be assembled into diverse structures.
Still, the argument remains that if a universe were created with random values of the physical constants, a universe with no life would have almost certainly been the result. Of course, no one would then be around to talk about it and the fact is we are here and talking about it.

Quranic Viewpoint
Our world is a vast array of wonders and marvelous mysteries, which have astonished the enlightened human today. As mentioned before, many scientists believe that all these wonders are vivid indications of the fact that the creation is based on an extremely precise measurement and reckoning, which is originated from the will of a wise designer. Let us see what the Quran has stated about the organization of the Universe 1400 years ago:
-And the Earth have We spread out and cast headlands upon it, and planted a bit of everything to grow it there (so it is) well balanced. Chapter15: verse19
-And there is not a thing but with Us are the stores thereof. And We send it not down save in appointed measure. Chapter15: verse21
-And everything with Him is measured. Chapter13: verse8
-The sun and the moon follow a reckoning. Chapter55: verse5
-God has appointed a measure for everything. Chapter65: verse3
-He created the heavens and the earth with the truth, And He shaped you and shaped you well; and unto Him is the homecoming. Chapter64: verse3
Modern astronomers are aware that the stars and planets exist within ranges of precise distances from each other. Had it not been for this fact, collision between them would be inevitable. The author of the Quran was also aware of this. In the Quran we read:
-The sun and the moon follow a reckoning. Chapter55: verse5 Again, we read:
-For you [God] subjected the sun and the moon, both diligently pursuing their courses. Chapter14: verse33
The phrase 'diligently pursuing their courses' is a translation of the Arabic term daa'ib which here means 'to apply oneself to something with care in a perseverant, invariable manner, in accordance with set habits'. And that indeed is how the sun and moon behave. Another verse in the Quran says:
-the stars are in subjection to His command. Chapter16: verse12
Order in the universe is essential for its preservation. God, who subjected them to that order, knew about it before any scientist.
Whatever the Quran mentions in regard with the organization of the universe is important because "these references constitute a new fact of divine Revelation" 9. The Quran deals with this matter in depth making it vastly unique compared to preceding scriptures.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille, the author of the famous book “The Bible, The Quran and Science” points out that those who say that Muhammed authored the Quran think that the Arabs were very knowledgeable in the field of Science, and Muhammed was of course one of them. However, this explanation is based on the incorrect assumption that the Arabs knew Science before the Quran was revealed.
As pointed out by Dr. Bucaille, the fact is that Science in Islamic countries came after the Quran, not before. "In any case", writes Dr. Bucaille, "the scientific knowledge of that great period would not have been sufficient for a human being to write some of the verses to be found in the Quran"10.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille also points out the important fact that the Quran does not contain "the theories, prevalent at the time of the Revelation, which deal with the organization of the celestial world". Had the author of the Quran been human, he or she would have naturally included the ideas prevalent at the time. During the intervening history, many of those ideas were disproved and shown to be quite inaccurate. How did the author of the Quran know enough to exclude those ideas, unless the author is God himself?
References
1. Holy Quran translated by Thomas Ballantine Irving, Suhrawardi Research and Publication Center, Teheran, 1998.
2. Holy Quran translated by Marmaduke Pickthall, George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, Fifth Edition 1969.
3. ibid.
4. Holy Quran translated by M.H. Shakir, Ansarian publication, Qom, the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1993.
5. Holy Quran translated by Arthur J. Arberry, Ansarian Publishers, Qom, the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1999.
6. ibid.
7. From “Information Summaries”, National Aerospace and Space Administration, June 1991.
8. From Skeptic vol. 4, no. 2, 1996, pp. 36-40, by Dr. Victor J. Stenger, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, 10. ibid.