PROCEEDINGS OF THE RESEARCH COMMITTEE
(2007)
26. 07 January 2007 How Do We See the End of the World
(What Happens on the Day of Qyamah)
27. 04 February 2007 (Continued)
28. 04 March 2007 (Continued)
All scientists agree that there will be a time when the Earth will meet its end. However, it is not clear how this will take place. In Qur’an a number of clues are given which describe various events relating to Earth, skies, stars, mountains and others, which will happen on the Last Day. A complete description of these events is given in “Articles on Qur’an and Science” on this website. Based on these clues a number of models to conceive the end of the world are suggested below.
MODEL ONE
· The end of the world will take place on the day of solar eclipse (Verses 75:8-9). (For detail, please read the article “Solar Eclipse and the End of the World” on this website.)
· A huge asteroid will strike the Earth forcing the Earth to come out of its orbit.
· The striking of the asteroid will produce a great noise (Verses 36:49, 50:42, 80:33).
· This impact will jolt the Earth (Verses 56:4, 73:14, 79:6, 99:1).
· This impact will throw out from Earth the inner or buried masses and other things (Verses 84:4, 99:2).
· The Earth after losing its orbit will “fall” on to the Sun like a freely falling body.
· The Earth as a freely falling body will lose its gravitational force and the mountains will turn into pieces and fly as weightless bodies (Verses 18:47, 20:105, 52:10, 56:5-6, 70:9, 77:10, 78:20, 81:3, 101:5).
· The Earth will be without mountains or hills like a flat surface (Verses 20:106-107, 69:14, 84:3).
· The falling of Earth on the Sun and flying mountains will produce vibrations in the atmosphere containing the air and will produce noise (Verses 50:41, 52:9, 78:18).
· The flying mountains will be of such a size and at a height that they will look like clouds as if the sky is broken and there are doors in it (Verses 69:16, 77:9, 78:19, 82:1, 84:1).
· Part of the Earth will turn into dust which will encircle the Earth (Verses 25:25, 44:10).
· The colour of the atmosphere will change to become like molten copper (or brass; may be due to the dust encircling the Earth) (Verse 70:8).
· This may be the collapse of our solar system when the other planets (Arabic word, Kwakib, meaning planets) along with the Earth will fall into the Sun (Verse 82:2).
MODEL TWO
Except the initial stages of the end of the world, the other stages will be the same as mentioned above.
· The two or more great nations of the world will start fighting each other as in case of a world war.
· These great nations have thousands of nuclear arms, or by the end of the world may have hundreds of thousands of nuclear arms, which are stored in safe places in or near the mountains.
· The attack on each other’s arsenals will explode all these arms and huge noise will be generated (Verses 36:49, 50:42, 80:33).
· These explosions will turn the mountains into pieces which will fly as weightless bodies (Verses 18:47, 20:105, 52:10, 56:5-6, 70:9, 77:10, 78:20, 81:3, 101:5).
· This will take place on the day of solar eclipse (Verses 75:8-9).
· These explosions will force the Earth to come out of its orbit.
· The Earth after losing its orbit will “fall” on to the Sun like a freely falling body.
· The Earth as a freely falling body will lose its gravitational force and the mountains will turn into pieces and fly as weightless bodies (Verses 18:47, 20:105, 52:10, 56:5-6, 70:9, 77:10, 78:20, 81:3, 101:5).
· The flying bodies will produce vibrations in the atmosphere containing the air and will produce noise (Verses 50:41, 52:9, 78:18).
· Part of the Earth will turn into dust and encircle the Earth (Verses 25:25, 44:10).
· The colour of the atmosphere will change to become like molten copper (or brass; may be due to the dust encircling the Earth) (Verse 70:8).
· This may be the collapse of our solar system when the other planets (Arabic word, Kwakib, meaning planets) along with the Earth will fall into the Sun (Verse 82:2).
These models have been presented with the scientific knowledge we have at present. Efforts have been made to account for all the clues given in the Qur’an in suggesting the models. However, a number of verses do not fit in these models. For example,
· Verse 14:48 (The day when the Earth will be changed to a different earth and the heavens as well)
· Verse 21:104 (The day when We roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books)
· Verse 77:8 (When the stars will lose their light)
· Verse 81:1 (When the Sun will cease to shine)
· Verse 81:2 (When the stars will loose their luster)
· Verse 81:11 (When the heaven will be stripped bare)
So, these models may have to be modified or replaced by better models whenever we are able to understand and interpret these verses. Researchers are invited to deliberate and propose other models as well.
29. 01 April 2007 End of the World – Will the date be known?
There are a number of verses where the clues to the end of the world are given. It is therefore expected that the exact date of the end of the world will be known some time in future.
For detailed arguments on this topic see “Articles on Qur’an and Science” on this website.
30. 03 June 2007 The Meaning of the Word “Aalameen”
(Second Phase of Discussion)
The word “Aalameen” relates to the groups of people or other creations of this world only. It has no reference to the creations outside this world. This can be seen from the following verses:
2:47 5:115 21:91 44:32
2:122 6:84-86 25:1 45:16
3:33 6:90 29:10 68:52
3:42 7:140 29:15 81:27
3:96 12:104 29:28
3:108 15:70 37:79
5:20 21:71 38:87
31. 05 August 2007 The Meaning of the Words, “Sama” and
“Samawat”
(Second Phase of Discussion)
32. 02 Septemebr 2007 (Continued)
The conclusion of discussion is same as was reached earlier in the 5th, 6th and the 7th meetings held in 2005. “Sama” means the blue sky above our heads with heights as low as the clouds, and anything above it. "Sama" and “Samawat" are reachable distances. Either they relate to the atmosphere of the earth or the solar system, and not anything beyond that. The word “Sama” also refers to the group of “Samawat”.
33. 04 November 2007 Evidence of Dark Energy
In the light of verses 6:96, 17:78-79, 25:45, 113:3, and others
There are a number of verses in the Qur’an from which it appears that the darkness is not just the absence of light, but it has its own identity. Darkness, especially at night, has been given a lot of importance. Most prayer timings have been specified between sunset and sunrise. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was asked to pray late night (at Tahajjud). And many events other than prayers have also been related with the darkness. In this respect the various verses can be grouped in the following four categories:
1. The verses showing the importance of alternation between day and night, such as 2:164, 3:190, 10:6, 23:80, 30:23, 45:5, etc.
2. The verses relating the prayer timings with night or timings of darkness, such as 17:78, 17:79, 20:130, 76:25, 76:26, etc.
3. The verses specifically giving clues to the effect that the darkness has a separate identity, such as 25:45-46, 113:1-3, and
4. Verses giving evidence in confirmation of the clues given at serial 3 above, such as 6:96, 16:81, 28:24, 39:5, etc.
The above list of verses is not a complete list as there are in fact a large number of verses on these topics. Only few examples have been quoted above to show that such a topic has been discussed in the Qur’an.
The discussion concludes that an unknown medium in the form of darkness exists of which we have no knowledge. Not long ago, the presence of Dark Energy has been proposed by the scientists. It is required that taking guidance from the related verses of Qur’an, research be carried out to know the properties of this new medium.
34. 02 December 2007 Scientific Significance of Swearing by Allah
Allah has sworn in the Qur’an with reference to a number of his creations. These are of two types:
(i) Swearing using the words “I swear …..”, and
(ii) Swearing using the words “By the ….. .”
The number for type one is small and the objects referred to are: The Easts and Wests (in plural form) (70:40); the end of the world (75:1); the holy city of Mecca (90:1); The planets (derived meaning) (81:15-16); The redness on the sky immediately after sunset (84:16); locations (or setting) of the stars (56:75); etc. Interestingly, these objects relate to the Heavens and Earth.
The other type of swearing is large in number, and the objects referred to in this type are: Dawn, Day, Night, Sky, Earth, Sun, Moon,Al-Qur’an, which are repeated a number of times, while some others which are mentioned only once.
For the believers Allah does not need to swear as the believers have full faith in what Allah has described in the Qur’an. And if Allah still swears, then either it reflects to the importance of the object, or it shows the chronology of the created objects. Swearing by an object means that the particular object is an eye-witness of the thing which is described there. For example, when a person swears by Allah, it means that he is making Allah an eye-witness to his statement or action. The object which is an eye-witness to the other object or event, the eye-witness object was created first and the other object was created later.
In this list of swearing by Allah, one is a special swearing. In verse 56:75 Allah swears by the “locations of the stars” (some translators have interpreted as “setting of stars”). The special thing about this swearing is that, in the very next verse (56:76) Allah mentions that, “And it is indeed a mighty oath if you but knew it.” By saying this Allah has given a unique status to this swearing, and has given much more importance over, apart from other things, the “Day of Judgment” and the “Holy city of Mecca” which are used in swearing in a similar manner.
In this list of swearing there is a lot of food for thought, and basic material is available for researchers. The scientists are invited to deliberate and carry out research on these topics, especially on verses 56:75-76.
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