The Creator and the Creation
Allah (subḥānahu wa taʿālā) says in the noble Qur’an,
“Indeed, within the heavens and earth are signs for the believers.”[1]
The greatest miracle bestowed on the beloved of Allah and Master of all humanity, Muhammed (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam), was the noble Quran; unmatched in literary excellence, sublime in its beauty and religious reverence. However, despite its immense power and unparalleled nature, there are many from humankind who would not attest to its divine origin. However, to many Muslims, just hearing the words of the noble Quran is enough to send shivers down the spine, bring tears to the eyes and compel them to bow in humility and in recognition of the awe and splendour of the One who sent the book.
Within any creation there are signs of the creator. In fact the ultimate determinant of any human creation is the flaws that are contained within it. This is a recognised characteristic of all human creation and is in itself termed ‘human error’. Hence, you find bugs in computer programs, design flaws in cars and even culinary delights that fail to live up to expectations. On the other hand, the ultimate determinant and characteristic of divine creation is supreme and flawless perfection. The irony is that those of ‘no faith’ term this not as ‘divine perfection’ but, rather predictably, as mere chance or a fluke of nature.
I find it strengthens my faith in Allah in pondering over the creation. Only recently I spent an age just looking at an insect on my bedroom window. The insect had a most beautiful design on each wing which in itself deserved to be looked at and admired. Each wing was identical in design, dimension and appearance. A beautiful creation, the name, purpose, and variety of which I was totally oblivious. And yet, Allah had even created one of the smallest of his creations with supreme perfection. Humankind, and even those who advocate chance and probability to creation, would have confined this small creation to the annals of the insignificant levels of creation. However, not the Creator who makes the sun rise from the east and set in the west. Perfection is even for this insect – and why not, when our Creator is Al-Khaliq (The Creator) and Al-Mutakabbir (Supreme in Greatness, the Majestic).
The Miracle that is the Moon
There is one creation which we see nearly every night and yet we barely notice it. In it are signs which are so amazing, so extraordinary, so perfect in their creation that it takes your breath away and makes one reaffirm their very faith and proclaim the Shahada –
Ashhadu alla ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadur Rasulullah.
I bear witness that no one deserves to be worshiped except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
The creation in question is our Moon. There are certain characteristics which Allah has placed within the Moon which, when seen through the eyes of sincerity and truth, can only point to a supreme Creator. In fact the ‘ayat’ (signs), are so immense in their nature that rather than a mere sign, it is akin to the Creator’s very own ‘signature’. It is tantamount to a ‘challenge’ to those who do not believe, such that the Creator is asking – “Well explain that if you can?”
It is a recognised fact that life on Earth would be impossible without the Moon. The Moon affects our climate, causes the tides and even gives humans a means by which to measure the passage of time through the observance of moon phases. The Moon even provides light through reflection as mentioned in the following verse of the Quran:
“And made the moon therein a [reflected] light and made the sun a burning lamp?”[2]
In fact, analysis of moon dust taken from the Apollo moon missions, unbelievably found that most of the moon dust is actually glass. As Gemma Lavender writes in her article ‘ Five things you did not know about Moon dust’:
“Lunar dust is mostly made up of very fine particles of silicon dioxide glass, plus iron, calcium and magnesium, as well as other trace minerals. It’s all been shattered and ground into a fine powder over billions of years of meteorite impacts.”[3]
The effect of all of this is that the Moon in essence behaves like an enormous unpolished mirror, reflecting the Sun’s light – just as it is stated in the ‘Quran’. Alhamdulillah.
The Moon rotates around the Earth. This in itself is not extraordinary. However, the length of time it takes the Moon to rotate around the Earth is exactly identical to the length of time it takes for the Moon to rotate on its own axis. The net effect of all of this is that the Earth only ever sees one side of the Moon. This phenomenon is known as ‘tidal locking’.[4]
The Moon orbits the Earth and in turn both the Earth and Moon orbit the Sun. There are times when the orbit of the Moon comes directly in line with the Earth and the Sun and, as a consequence, the Sun’s rays are blocked and the Earth experiences a darkening, known as an eclipse. This is a natural consequence of orbiting bodies. However, due to the perfect size and distance of both the Sun and Moon relative to the Earth, the net effect is that the Moon is exactly the same size as the Sun. The resulting effect is a total eclipse of the Sun, which is an absolutely stunning spectacle of perfection at a mind-bogglingly enormous scale. How majestic and powerful is He, whose creation exudes perfection regardless of it being as small as an insect or as large as the solar system. Alhamdulillah.
All the planets, including their moons, in our solar system orbit the Sun. Their orbits are all in one plane which is known as the ecliptic plane. The best way to understand this is by thinking of the ecliptic plane as a table top. At the centre of this table top is the Sun and all the other planets and their moons orbit the Sun. While the planets and their moons go around the Sun everything remains on the table top. Unbelievably, though, the exception to this is our Moon. The Moon rotates at a very slight angle of 5 degrees to the ecliptic plane. You may wonder what the big deal is in that. This slight variation in orbit to the ecliptic plane means that the moon has a rotational plane which is unique within the solar system and, as a consequence, the Earth does not experience a solar eclipse every month. Alhamdulillah – how merciful is our Lord.
Finally, the biggest conundrum and dilemma is how the Moon even ever came into existence as a partner to the Earth? There are two ways in which a planet can get a moon. A part of the host planet breaks away and the breakaway orbits the planet due to its gravitational pull. However, analysis of the Moon’s composition clearly demonstrates that it is not part of the Earth. The second theory is that the Moon was in some way captured by the Earth’s gravitational pull. This, again, is swiftly dismissed due to the fact that any captured ‘moon’ would have an elliptical (egg-shaped) orbit and yet the Moon has a near perfect circular orbit. The conclusion is that naturalistic explanations cannot even explain the existence of our Moon.
Hence, the ‘miracle’ of the Moon. With naturalistic explanations unable to answer the question of the origins of the Moon – some of those ideologically required to disbelieve in Allah have even resorted to arguing ridiculous theories such as the belief that the Moon was placed there by some extra-terrestrials.
Reiterating the words of Allah:
“Indeed, within the heavens and earth are signs for the believers.”
Allah himself, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, has testified those recognising His signs as being “believers”. May Allah always make us of those who recognise His signs, make us die as such and raise us on Yawm al-Qiyāmah in such a manner.
Ameen
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Source: www.islam21c.com
Notes:
[1] Al-Quran, 45:3
[2] Al-Quran, 71:16
http://www.spaceanswers.com/solar-system/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-moon-dust/
It follows from the Hubble law based on the observation of the Ia-type supernovae that the radius of the observable universe (r) is equal to about 0.16 x 10^26 meters and from the so-called cosmic connection of the speed of light (a = c x H) that the radius of the big universe (R) is equal to about 1.125 x 10^26 meters.
Where a is the cosmic acceleration affecting the Pioneer spacecraft, c is the speed of light, and H is the Hubble parameter.
So that the ratio of the radius of the big universe to that of the observable universe is equal to 7.03
This value means that the universe is arranged in 7 layered heavens as mentioned in the Holy Quran and Holy Hadiths.
But only Allah knows best.
It is clearly mentioned in many verses of the Holy Quran that the age of the universe is 6 days and the age of the earth is 2 days in the reference frame based on 7th heaven.
It means that the earth was for the first time created when the age of the universe was 2/3 of its age today.
But only Allah knows best
It is mentioned in surat Maarij, chapter 70, verse 4 in the Holy Quran what
means “The angles and the spirit will ascend to Him during a day the extent of which is fifty thousand years”.
It means that the distance between the earth and the Siderat Al Muntaha is 50000 years in the reference frame based on the earth or 1 day in the reference frame based on the Siderat Al Muntaha.
To calculate the distance between the earth and the Siderat Al Muntaha, one has to assume two things:
1) A year as mentioned in this noble verse refers to a period in the fabric space-time between the earth and the Siderat Al Muntaha;
2) The angles and spirit travel at the speed of light from the earth to Siderat Al Muntaha.
The first assumption allows us to choose the wavelength of the so-called primordial gravitational waves reprinted in the cosmic microwave background radiation as a period in the fabric space-time, and the second assumption allows us to convert the distance given in light-years to the distance in meters.
It is important to note that the distance between the earth and the Siderat Al Muntaha is 50 Billion years in this context.
Following this approach, one can calculate the distance between the earth and the Siderat Al Muntaha as follows:
d = 50000 in years
d = 50000 × lambda in light-years
d = 50000 × 10^6 × (12 × 30 × 24 × 60 × 60 × 3 × 10^8) in meters
d = 4.665 × 10^26 meters
Where 1 lambda (CMBR) = 1 Million light-years as the astronomical unit or as 1 period in the fabric space-time between the earth and the Siderat Al Muntaha and 1 light-year = 1-year × c = 12 × 30 × 24 × 60 × 60 × 3 × 10^8 in meters as the distance traveled by the light during 1 year (1 revolution of the earth around the sun).
Allah Akhebare to my surprise I find this value of the distance between the earth and the Siderat Al Muntaha is in perfect agreement with the value of the radius of the universe as expected by the cosmologists.
This coincidence is because the Holy Quran is a book from Allah and the Noble Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is the last messenger of Allah.
But only Allah knows best.
References:
1 – Wikipedia (please see at this site for more details about the radius of the universe)
2 – La matiere Noire – A la recherche de la plus grande Inconnue de l’univers – Une collection présentee par Hubert Reeves (please see at this site for more details about the ripples in the fabric space-time known as the gravitational waves reprinted in the cosmic microwave background radiation).
Blessed is His Magesty’s holy name, and indeed to His Magesty, belong the most noble and beautiful of names. The Originator, The Witness, The All Powerful and All Encompasing, He Himself is beautiful and has made every creation on a standard of beauty that suits His Magesty’s glory. Look down on the earth, ponder over nature and life or gaze at the heaven, one would find every single atom of creation signed with His Glory’s noble name. May He be exalted, The most High, The Noblest, The Holiest. Our Maker deserves every single bit of love my heart has to offer!
Amusing! The article comes with an explanation that is neither scientific nor religious. It is somehow between two “waters”, this means neither land nor water.In other words, have a good laugh and then move on.
As Salaam Alaikom warahmatu Allahi wabarakaatu all.
May Allah reward you for a synopsis of such splendour for His Sake. The transcript has beckoned me to enquire more into the wonders of the skies. Although intrigued from childhood, to venture into its lessons never enticed me-until this Ramazan: the sighting of Luna has once again called me to deeper understand the Ayat(s) of Al Ahad…
Jazaka Allah Kherion brother
the post is as soothing as its poster(headline)…. exquisite
As-salaamu alaikum was rahmatulahi was barakatuhu
Alhumdulillah, superb article, consider the following summary of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 where Neil Armstrong was the first man to land on the moon. “The LM lifted off from the Moon at 17:54:01 UT on 21 July with 21Kg of moon rock. Like the time of the sahaba, ‘The moon had physically split’ as stated by Allah in Qur’an but for the WORLD to witness to this day with the advent of technology and the digital age in which we live in, subhanAllah…Islam 21C
See fourth paragraph
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1969-059A
Quran 54:01
http://quran.com/54/1
Allahuakbar
Thank you for a very thought provoking article but when I look at the moon after Magrib, I see it glowing, rather than reflecting. I have never observed the sun ever to be in the correct position if its light is reflected. The ayah you quoted describes the moon as Noor, which I don’t think can be translated as ‘reflected light’. We shouldn’t believe everything atheistic ‘scientists’ tell us especially when they contradict science.
Exquisite article – May Allah grant you great reward
Maash’Allah a very beautifully written article. I find the Moon very fascinating and intriguing. In fact, I have been taking photos of the Moon for a while now because of this. I catch the Moon at different phases every month. Last September, I was up almost up all night to take photos of the eclipse that produced the Red Moon, a phenomenon that will not be occurring until 2033. I took hundred of photos of the Moon that night until I see the Red Moon. It was amazing. Glory to Allah. I wanted to share that experience with others, so I made a slideshow of the photos and posted onto YouTube.
I have taken dozens of this Ramadan Moon and this morning I caught the last visible crescent before the new Moon on Monday.
Well done Mukhtar for the article