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QUR’AN AND LIFE IN THE HEAVENS
By
Prof
Dr Mohammad Munir Hasan
For quite some time there has been an interesting question before the
scientists whether life like ours exists on any other planet of our solar system
or anywhere in the universe. Space scientists have been trying to find the
answer without any success. A few decades ago it was told that the scientists
have sent messages in the space expecting some reply from somewhere, but there
was no response. Recently some space missions have been and are being sent to
the Mars, the planet close to our Earth, to explore the presence of water and
life on it. The planet Mars has been selected for this purpose most importantly
because the temperatures there, although somewhat lower than those of Earth,
are still in the range where life like ours can exist. This is most probably so
because the axial motion period of Mars is very similar to that of Earth (24.6
hours as compared to 23.9 hours that of Earth) and so, the difference in the
day and night temperatures is not very high and is similar to that of Earth.
The planet Venus which is closer to Earth than Mars is not selected for this
purpose, at least for now, being closer to Sun and because of very long axial
period (243 days) creating extreme temperatures for day and night removing any
possibility for the water to remain in liquid form and minimizing the
possibility for the life similar to ours to exist.
It is evident that the whole of research in this direction, like
research in all other fields, is being carried out by scientists living in
Europe, America, Australia, etc. and no such research is being carried out in
Muslim Countries. This is especially sad because in Qur’an Allah has given a
lot of importance to the research in space sciences and many other scientific
fields, which is being ignored completely by the Muslims. This
amounts to leaving the Qur’an, at least partially, as mentioned in
chapter 25, verse 30 of the Holy Qur’an.
Now let us see what Qur’an says about the life in space. Life has been
defined in Qur’an by the word “Daabbah” meaning
living bodies or things. Although this word has been used 14 times in singular
and 4 times in plural form in the Qur’an, there has been only one occurrence
where it has been explained what sort of living things have been included in
this word. In verse 24/45 it is mentioned that:
“Allah
has created every living thing (Daabbah) from water;
of them there are some that creep on their bellies, some that walk on two legs,
and some that walk on four.”
So, this word (Daabbah)
includes living bodies which creep, like insects including snakes, etc.; who
walk on two legs, like human beings; and which walk on four legs, like animals.
Thus, all sorts of birds and other creatures like the ones living in water have
been excluded from this word. The exclusion of birds from this word is also
evident from the verse 6/38 which says:
“There is no living body (Daabbah) on the earth nor a being
that flies on its wings, but communities like you.”
Similarly, it appears that micro-organisms have
also been excluded from this word as they neither walk on legs nor creep on
their bellies. So, the concept of life in the word “Daabbah”
appears to be restricted to human beings, animals and other creatures which
creep on earth.
Another important thing which has been mentioned
in verse 24/45 is that all living things (Daabbah)
have been created from water. So, the presence of water is absolutely essential
for all living thing defined in the word “Daabbah”.
Now let us see what has been said in Qur’an for
the life outside this Earth. This life has been mentioned with relation to the
word “samawat” meaning “skies” or “heavens” at two
places. In verse 42/29 it is said that:
“And among His signs is the
creation of heavens and the earth and the living bodies that He has scattered
thereon (both heavens and earth).
And
in the other verse 16/49 it is said that:
“And to Allah bow in homage
all living things (Daabbah) present on earth and in
heavens……….”
So, both these verses confirm presence of living
bodies (Daabbah) like either human beings, or
animals, or creeping creatures, either individually or collectively in the
heavens in addition to earth, and the presence of water there.
Now the only question left is that what is meant
by “heavens” (samawat, in Arabic). The word “sama” (singular of samawat)
meaning one sky or one heaven has been used large number of times in Qur’an.
However, the word “samawat” (plural) has been used comparatively
less frequently, and words “sab’a samawat”
meaning “seven heavens” have been used just a few times only. What the
“heavens” or “seven heavens” are is a separate topic of discussion, but these
are certainly something “above” this earth and not anything on this earth. If
we “assume” that these are the planets of our solar system then presence of
life like ours seems to exist on the planets, or at least on one of the planets
which has similar temperature profile compared to Earth, i.e. Mars.
Verse 42/29 of the Holy Qur’an, after stating
the presence of life on earth and in the heavens, as mentioned above, further
says that:
“And
He has power to gather them together when He wills.”
which means that there
will be a time, whenever Allah wills, when these living bodies on earth and in
the heavens will meet together. I think this part of the said verse points out
that some time in future the scientific missions exploring the life outside
this earth will be successful when the living bodies from this earth and
outside this earth (in the heavens) will meet together.
What I have written above is just an explanation
of some of the verses of the Holy Qur’an as we understand them now. To know
more about it a lot of intensive research is required. Scientists in the
western world are already working on space missions. Can Muslim scientist carry
out this research in line with the instruction given in the Qur’an and taking
guidance from the Qur’an?
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