Allah says: “And We have built the heavens with Our own Hands; and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it.”(51:47)
Andsays:
“On that Day We shall roll up the skies as written scrolls are rolled up; [and] as We brought into being the first creation, so We shall bring it forth anew – a promise binding upon Us; for, behold, We are able to do [all things]!! “(21:104)
And says:
“On the day when this earth will be changed into another earth, as shall be the heavens and they will all appear before Allah, the One, the Most Supreme”(14:48)
These verses confirm that the universe we live in is continuously expanding in space. If we go back in time, we would find that the entire universe emerged from a primeval atom or cosmic egg. It then exploded by Allah’s command and transformed into a cloud of smoke from which the earth and heavens were formed. The universe is continuously expanding in space and will finally stop expanding by Allah’s command. Thereafter the universe will collapse upon itself and fuse once more into a primeval atom. The explosion and formation will once more occur, and a heaven, unlike our heaven, and an earth, unlike our earth, will be formed. At this stage, worldly life will come to an end, and life of the Hereafter will commence. All these stages are mentioned in the Qur’an. One finds that this topic which was discovered through modern science has been mentioned in the Qur’an which was revealed 1400 years ago! This alone affirms the fact that the Qur’an can only be the Words of Allah and that Muhammad () received divine revelation and taught people these facts at a time when no one knew these facts. These facts were not known to man except after many centuries.
Astronomers have discovered that the universe is in continuous motion, and that it is expanding. This was discovered by studying the galaxies 61 THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING ISLAM
and distant celestial bodies. The American astronomer Vesto M. Slipher, who studied the spectra of galaxies, noticed that the spectral lines of a few nearby systems were shifted toward longer wavelengths. This shift in wave-length showed that most galaxies were receding from the Milky Way at several hundred kilometers per second!
This picture shows that the distances between galaxies or clusters of galaxies are continuously increasing and that therefore the universe is expanding
The American astronomer Edwin Hubble confirmed that the universe was expanding and that the more remote the galaxy the higher was its recession velocity; and that its recession velocity was proportional to its distance.16 With this we see that scholars in astronomy have affirmed that the universe is ever expanding. This expansion will continue until gravity loses its pull and the planets will spread out in the universe, which will result in the end of the world.
Allah says:“When the sky breaks apart, and when the stars are scattered.” (82:1-2)
Ref: Keys to understanding Islam by: Professor Kamal Hassan Ali, M. Ed., Ed.D. P. 61
