THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE

One of the most popular and widely accepted theories amongst scientists is the theory of the Big Bang. This theory claims that the universe was created from a small dot of energy that exceeds even our imagination. This dot of energy exploded creating the necessary material for the creation of the universe.

With the passage of time, Hydrogen and Helium atoms began to combine and create galaxies, stars, planets, and all along this time the universe was expanding.

Scientists discovered that the universe was (and still is) expanding in this century, and before that, they used to say that the universe was static, neither expanding nor contracting. Even Einstein was forced to include into one of his equations what was called the Cosmological Constant to conform to that old held belief. When Edwin Hubble and Mount Wilson showed that the universe was expanding in 1931, Einstein had to retract his cosmological constant and admitted that it was the greatest mistake he had ever made.

It was found that the universe was expanding when the two scientists noticed that galaxies were travelling far away from our own. It was also noticed that these galaxies were travelling away from each other. That meant that the universe must be expanding for this to happen.

As an example, imagine the universe to be like dough with watermelon seeds inside it. If it was baked in the oven, the dough would expand, and the seeds (which are the galaxies) would begin to move away from each other. To understand this even further, take a balloon and draw dots on it. Consider the balloon to be the universe and the dots to be the galaxies. As you blow into the balloon, it would expand, and every dot would progress apart from the others, and the more the balloon expands the further away the dots become. That is what is happening to the universe. It is expanding!

What does the Holy Qur'an say about the expansion of the universe? Does it say that it's expanding, contracting, or static? Allah says in the Holy Quran,

"And the heaven, we did raise it up with Our Might, and verily We are the expanders of its expanse." (51:47)

Here God (Praise be to Him) says that He created the universe with his might, and the word "Be'aid" (in Arabic, contained in the verse) means that God created the universe with a power that cannot be fathomed, and this is an indication of the way the universe was created. If this word was compared to what the scientists wanted to name the beginning of the universe, the Big Bang, you would see a similar intent, and that is: the great power that was released when the universe was created.

Then Allah Almighty describes, in clear terms, the current state of the universe, and that it is expanding, and that He is responsible for this expansion.

This peace of information was explained to us 1418 years ago, but it wasn't scientifically understood until recently.