FORM BIG BANG TO BIG CRUNCH
104-On that day we will fold the heaven, like the folding of a book. We shall revert it as it was before We first created it. This is Our promise. We will certainly fulfill it.
21-The Prophets,104
May we stress here an important point. In the verse it is said that God will restore it to its former state. Therefore to be able to understand the end of the universe, we have to go back to the first three chapters of our Book where the beginning of Creation is described. The fact that they appear in the same sura is meaningful. (The beginning is explained in the sura The Prophets, verse 30, in the same sura verse 104, the end is explained.)
30-Do not these disbelievers see that the heavens and earth were an integrated mass, then we split them and from water we made all living things. Will they not believe even then?
21-The Prophets,30
47-With power did We construct the heaven. Verily, we are expanding it.
51- The Dispersing,47
We deduce from the above two verses:
1) that the universe was separated from a whole, and
2) that the universe formed following this separation is expanding.
The extraordinary miracle in these verses of the Quran was examined in the first three chapters. Now if we may be allowed to go back to the verse we quoted in this Chapter, if the universe will regress too its original state,
1) the expanding universe will have to shrink, and
2) the expanding universe will return to its primordial unity.
Persons versed in astrophysics will take cognizance of the magnificence of this verse. We know today that the universe is expanding. We also know that this expansion is the consequence of the acceleration generated by the Big Bang. We are faced with two alternatives here. According to the one of these, the expanding universe will spread out to a vast expanse, all the stars will have exhausted their energies, the temperature will fall and thus the end will reach. Following the exhaustion of the energy of stars and the coming to a standstill of all actions, all celestial bodies will break off and go outside the gravitational force. According to a second alternative, the expanding universe will stop because of mutual attraction of all bodies and the universe will be folded up to return to its primordial state.
ONE MIRACLE AFTER ANOTHER
It seems that the Quran’s implication is inclined toward the second alternative. At a time when people believed that he Earth stood on the horns of an ox or on a fish, the Quran’s description of the event was incredible. This fact cannot be asserted to be but the outcome of contrivances and coincidences or explained basing on the lore of the time. The source of this knowledge is not scientific observation but God’s revelation. The verse under our scrutiny is also giving an answer as to which of the two alternatives man should put faith in. The greatness of the Quran that stated that the universe was created from the one primordial wholeness, that it expanded, and that it would shrink back at a time when all scientific evidence lacked, is conceived better today with the advance of science and the discovery of the mystery of the universe.
The folding up of the universe is referred to as Closed Universe Model. The power to realize this folding up is gravity. As we know, all matter is in mutual attraction and this gravitational force puts a break on the universe. When something is thrown into the air, the object thrown cannot help falling back after some time because of gravity, matter that has scattered in every possible direction in the space following the Big Bang will help retrace its steps in a given time to be folded up. We must remember that at the time of the descent of the Quran, the notion of gravity did not exist and that it was to be known some one thousand years after thank to Newton’s discovery.
Once that the expansion of the universe was established, scientists began to study whether the universe would continue to expand or come to a close by folding up. To this end they tried to find out the critical density of matter in the universe and arrived at certain ratios which they called ‘omega’. If the density in the universe is at a certain level which means that the process of folding up will begin before the scattering of matter into eternity. It was established that the value of density in the universe was more than it had been estimated and that 3 points which had not been taken into account in the beginning showed that the folding up of the universe was more probable.
The three points in question were:
1) Along with the density value of the universe the black holes also must be taken into account. Given the fact that there was no light emitted by black holes of very small volume that contained extremely dense matter, the calculations made basing on light emitted did not take these black holes into consideration.
2) Later on extremely dense stars of gigantic size the intensity of whose light was out of proportion to its volume. For instance a star formed by the concatenation of 1000 suns emitted just enough light as our own sun; so that the initial calculations were based on a figure one thousand times less.
3) Finally a new factor was discovered called ‘dark matter’ that filled up all galaxies and were invisible to the eye but had to be added to the density value of the universe.
Man is born, lives and dies to eventually return to the dust of which he was made. The same thing holds true for beasts and plants. It appears that the law that governs all living creatures is also applicable in the case of the universe. In the verse we examined, this event is stressed with the word “revert”. Following are the verses this word is used.
27-And He is the One who first creates and then reverts it. This is very easy for Him. And to Him belongs the most sublime similitude, in the heavens and the earth. And He is the Almighty, Wise.
30-The Romans,27
14-Say: “Can any of your idols initiate creation, then revert it” say “It is God initiates the creation, and then reverts it. Then how are you deluded way.
10-Jonah, 14
HEAVEN RENT ASUNDER AND THE RED ROSE
37-When the heaven will split asunder, and become rose red like the dregs of anointing oil.
55- Gracious,37
The Quran speaks of the color of heaven on the day the solar system comes to an end.. (The Heights, verse 8). The picture below shows a dying star. A similar death is projected for our sun also. The dying star’s photo below fits the Quran’s definition about the end of the universe perfectly. The image ‘split asunder” is also mentioned in other verses of the Quran.
9-When the heaven split asunder.
77- The Emissaries , 9
81When the curtain drown back from the heaven.
81-The Rolling,11
16-When the heaven will crack and split asunder. That day it will be flimsy. .
69- Incontestable, 16
We believe that these verses may be understood in two different ways. If we take heaven for the entire universe, one may think of a decay at the outer extremities of the sky in continuous expansion (by this the decay in the vacuum structure of the universe may have been meant. However, we are not going to dwell on this long issue). According to a second alternative, if we take heaven for the atmosphere of our Earth, big earthquakes, activities on the surface of the earth will likely affect the atmosphere that will be split asunder and the protective layer of the atmosphere will be peeled off. As a matter of fact, the atmosphere depends on the fine balance between the earth’s gravitational force and the movement of molecules in the atmosphere. Any alteration in this balance will likely affect the atmosphere. Either of these two alternatives, or both, for that matter, may have been meant by the verses.
DOOMSDAY’S SUDDEN ARRIVAL
187-They ask you about the Hour and when it will come to pass. Say,”The kowledge thereof is with my Lord. Only He can reveal its time. Heavy it is in the heavens and the earth. It will come to you suddenly. They ask you about it as if you were in the know. Say,”The knowledge thereof is with God. But most people do not know.
7 – The Purgatory,187
The Quran says that the process of the end of our world and universe will begin all of a sudden, which even the Prophet does not know. According to the theory of relativity, the fastest motion in the Universe belongs to light, the speed of which is not surpassed by anything. (This assertion may be made into a subject of discussion but the fact that light moves at an incredible speed is incontestable.) The data we obtain from light emitting objects and the reflection of light are the limits of our understanding of the phenomena taking place in the universe. If an information about time the Doomsday will take place is to be transmitted at the speed of light we can never be informed of it before some time has elapsed. For instance, if the sun explodes this very moment and the beginning of the end has come, we can be aware of it not before the lapse of eight and a half minutes..
The same holds true for other phenomena to occur likely causing the destruction of the universe. If the process in question has started at some point in the universe, we cannot be aware of it for some time. A series of phenomena will occur before we are conscious of it up until the time we are suddenly caught by it.
1-When the inevitable comes to pass
2- Then will nobody entertain falsehood concerning its coming.
3- It will lower some, and raise others
4. Then the earth will shaken up
56-The Inevitable, 1-4
The end of the universe and of the world is the most serious event next to its formation. When the time comes, the book of man will be scrolled up. Riches, reputations, situations, families, beauties, ugliness, joys, distresses will be no more; the entire universe will be transformed into a small unit. Superiority will no longer be measured by riches, possessions and high offices. Now, the superiority depends on the sort of life man has led. From the Doomsday scenery described in the Quran, there are lessons to draw in this life of ours. All these are not for the mere sake of knowing. What is communicated had the objective to move people and guide them to God. We must bear in mind the third verse of the Surah Waqi’ah:
3- It will lower some, and raise others.
56-The Inevitable,3
