THE STARS AND THE SUN
DEATH OF THE STARS AND THE SUN
8- When the stars are put out.
77-The Emissaries, 8
At the time of the descent of the Quran, people believed that the light of the
stars would last forever. This at a time when the inner structure of the stars
was a mystery and the fact that the energy of the stars would, one day, be
exhausted was not known. The Quran?s prediction about the end of the stars is a
miraculous statement.
2- When the planets are scattered.
82-The Shattering, 2
While the verses speak of the putting out of stars, the planets, not light
sources, will scatter. The Arabic word for a star is ?najm,? while ?kavkab? is a
planet. Given the fact that the planets are dependent on a central star, when
this star is no more, the planets will necessarily scatter. (There have been
translators who translated both words as stars without heeding the difference
between them.) Planets are not light sources, therefore their extinction is out
of question. The Quran displays its miraculous attribute in all its statements.
1- When the sun is rolled.
81-The Rolling, 1
The Arabic word ?takwir? refers to the wrapping of the turban around the head in
a spiral form; it also means the rolling or winding of a thing into a ball or
round mass, or around something. The scene describes how the end of the sun will
come. Like all the other stars, our sun also consumes hydrogen atoms by
transforming them into helium atoms and releasing energy in the form of
radiation, heat and light. The transformation of hydrogen into helium stops with
the exhaustion of the hydrogen. Even without the effect of other potential
causes, the sun will have to come to an end for this reason. Before their
extinction, the stars, according to their sizes, pass through such phases as red
giant, white dwarf or black hole. In view of its magnitude, our sun must turn
first into a red giant before dying.
The sun has been a subject of worship in the history of mankind. People who did
not believe in the end of the universe considered the sun itself to be an
immortal divinity and thought that the universe and the earth would last
eternally; there have been those who believed in the transmigration of souls
everlastingly. Having eventually been convinced by scientific discoveries that
the world was doomed to die one day, the minds that idolized the sun and the
belief in the eternal reincarnation cycle lost their support. The belief in the
Hereafter described in the Quran and the end of the universe are interconnected
as the stages of a system. Taking cognizance of the fact that the end of the
universe will eventually come has reinforced the belief in the Hereafter.
7- And verily the Hour is coming, no doubt about it, and that God will resurrect
those who are dead.
22-The Pilgrimage, 7
The description of the end of the universe in the Quran relating to the end of
the sun and of the world is given in striking colors. What the people at the
Prophet?s time knew about astronomy could not possibly have permitted them to
describe such occurrences. Muslims who lived at the time of the revelation of
the Quran believed in all these, not because of scientific deductions but
because they had faith in the fact that it was easy for God, the Creator of the
heavens and the earth, to destroy them. All the statements of the Quran about
the disappearance of the stars, the sun and the earth are corroborated today by
scientific discoveries.
EARTHQUAKES WITH BOILING SEAS
4- When the earth will be shaken up.
56-The Inevitable, 4
When the Hour comes, the entire earth will be shaken by a terrible earthquake.
The Quran says that the tremor will cause mountains to be pulverized, and men
will run to and fro in panic. As for the sea, we have the following indications:
6- When the seas boil.
81-The Rolling, 6
3- When the seas are suffered to burst forth.
82-The Shattering, 3
An earthquake will pulverize mountains, hot lava will burst forth from many
corners of the earth. Volcanoes will erupt and lava will rise from the sea. It
is unlikely that the depiction of the end of the world was an exaggeration of
natural disasters that Muhammad experienced in his lifetime. The area where
Muhammad lived was not on a major earthquake fault-line, and those who spent
most of their lives in the middle of desert, most likely, never witnessed the
eruption of a volcano in mid-ocean!
5- When the wild beasts are summoned.
81-The Rolling, 5
The Quran draws our attention to the herding together of animals. We know today
that animals react to a tremor even before we, as human beings, realize it. For
instance, in the zoo in Seattle Woodland, the odd movements of elephants and the
restlessness of gorillas in their cages were observed before the earthquake was
felt by human beings. This is a domain in which further research studies are
being conducted. In view of this statement of the Quran, we think that this
research should be intensified.
3- And when the earth is flattened out.
4- And when it throws out whatever it contains and is empty.
84-The Splitting, 3-4
The contents of the earth, the magma, the molten rock, will rise to the surface
as lava, as described in the verses quoted.
The Quran would like us to turn our attention to the most serious event of earth
history to come. Advanced science has demonstrated that the end of the world and
the universe is inevitable. No one can assert any longer that the stars and the
sun will shine forever, and that the universe and the earth will abide to
eternity.
18- Are they waiting until the Hour comes to them suddenly? Its signs have
already appeared. How can they benefit then when it has come upon them?
47-Muhammad, 18
Copyright © 2001-2008 Quranic Research Group
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