Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Big Bang theory in the Quran?

The Big Bang theory in a nutshell states that the universe began when a quick expansion of gases occurred creating stars and planets and everything within our universe. Many Creationists refute this idea by saying that the Bible states that the earth was created in six days. What the Bible says is that God formed what is ON earth in seven days. Genesis 1:1-2 states "In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth, Now the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep..." It goes on to say that God then took the six days to form what is on the earth. This doesn't refer to how the "heavens and earth" came into being. When the Bible and Quran state "heavens and earth" it isn't referring to the promised paradise after this life. The term "heavens" is referring to the skies and stars, etc. Interestingly the Quran talks about how the universe became what we see today in a way that has many scientists considering the validity of the Quran. The first verse that I find in reference to this is in the Quran chapter 21 verse 30 which states "Have not the people who have disbelieved ever considered this?: The heavens and the earth were one mass, then we parted them and created every living thing from water." In this verse the Arabic term for "parted" means "expansion". Modern scientists (with the help of technology) have found that the universe continues to expand slowly but steadily and assume based on this expansion as well as other factors (materials that form the universe) that all of the matter that we see in the universe was at one point one giant mass that began to expand. Now many people assume that the big bang theory is about a sudden explosion of gases and dust, however the genuine Big Bang theory is about a steady expansion of these materials. Now the problem here is that water was necessary for life to "occur". The above verse describes that how after this expansion of materials occurred Allah CREATED every living thing from water. This would imply that after Allah willed the universal expansion He then Created living things from water. Scientists have been searching planets and even the moon for water in hopes that such a discovery would prove life could exist on these planets. Every living thing could not exist with out water and most living things are at least 98% water. Even our blood is made from water while we are in the womb. Now Muslims are also informed that we are made up of dust as well which is obvious to anybody who has seen a decayed corpse. A human body dies and upon death there are two main factors that cause decomposition which includes lack of oxygen and lack of water. After we lose oxygen our heart stops and after our heart stops all of our water retention leaves the body leaving only dust and bones. Bones will eventually become dust as well.
The next Quranic verse that refers to the formation of the universe is found in chapter 41 verse 11- "Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been as smoke; He said to it (the skies aka universe) and to the Earth "Come ye together willingly or unwillingly" They said "We do come together in willing obedience." This is referring to after the expansion of the universe. After the expansion there was "formless" smoke which was then set together in layers. In Arabic the terms have much more exact meanings which are hard to translate, however since there may not be exact words some Quranic translations have good description to detail the words more correctly. The most interesting part about this verse is the word "smoke". Smoke is made up of gases and water vapors. The particles and vapors found in smoke are also found throughout the universe. Take our sun for example; The sun (and other stars) is made up of mostly hydrogen and helium and the nebula's are also made up of these particles. These particles are more compact in the sun and less condensed throughout different nebula's which is perhaps why nebula's look so much like colorful smoke. The point is that the universe and everything in it was at some point (according to scientists) smoke which eventually "came together" forming planets and stars. AMAZING. Take also the saying "come ye together"; Science implies that some force holds the formed universal bodies together and they have called this force gravity. Of course gravity doesn't have a visual or physical form and is a theory to explain the force that is holding these bodies "together" and is also the force used to explain the expansion and movement of the universe. Take for example black holes, these are giant gravity machines which, according to theory, were former stars which had exploded from a burst of energy and the center of the star which consisted of gravity, remains leaving a black hole. If all celestial bodies have this center of gravity which holds the body together then the Quran gives a clearer explanation of the source than any scientific theory because every theory about gravity has yet to have a cut and dry explanation for the source. The so called greatest mind on earth, Stephen Hawkings, recently presented the claim that God doesn't have to exist due to the existence of gravity, yet even he can't explain this phenomenon that we label "gravity". With out this "gravity" the gases and particles could not have become planets and stars and in fact universal expansion would be impossible. In the Quran God details for us that this force was at His command which at least gives us an explanation for the source of this bonding agent that we have labeled gravity which is more of an explanation than any scientist has presented about the source of this phenomenon and hundreds of years before gravity was even a theory. The next Quranic verse which refers to universe formation is in chapter 51 verse 47 "And it is we who built the universe with creative power, and verily it is we who are steadily expanding it." (Note: The "we" in this verse is a plural of respect and it refers to God alone.) This verse is quite clear in reference to the continuing expansion of the universe (by God's will) which I previously stated. The Hubble telescope has managed to take incredible photographs of different nebula's over the past 20 years and scientists find that when comparing the pictures from 1990 to the pictures taken in 2010 there is with out a doubt universal expansion. Many scientists believe that this continuous movement defeats the monotheistic God because of the Creation story which has no description of universal expansion and that since this expansion appears "spontaneous" there is no Creative force behind it. The Quran informed us of this expansion and the forces behind it 1400 years ago. An overview of these verses indicates that there was a mass of material which expanded then particles and "smoke" came together forming planets, stars, etc. By water life was formed and the universe continues to expand. Many scientists use this "Big Bang" theory to disprove God, however here we can see God sending them clear evidence 1400 years ago about what they are just now proving this century.
"Have not the people who have disbelieved ever considered this?: The heavens and the earth were one mass, then we parted them and created every living thing from water."

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

They Had Miracles..We Have Signs

For the next two months I plan to post a series of mini-blogs based on signs and proofs from our Creator. Many people assume that Islam is based solely on faith, however something particularly unique about Islam is an emphasis on logic and proof. Scientific proofs and foretold signs have been proven and continue to be proven as will be seen in the future blog series called "They Had Miracles...We Have Signs". I gave the series this name after a friend of mine asked me how we can be sure that Islam (or any religion for that matter) is true since Islam's final Prophet died so many years ago. I explained to my friend that the Prophets were given miracles so that the people of their time couldn't deny their assigned prophet-hood and the prophets foretold of signs and proofs so people in the future would have proof from their Creator. Any questions about Islam or the content of my blog can be sent to singlecreed@hotmail.com

Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Prophet...

In the Biblical book of John (injeel إنجيل) chapter 1 verses 19-25 the Jewish scribes and Pharisees ask John the Baptist (Yahya ibn Zacharriya) if he is the former prophet Elijah come back to life, then they ask him if he is the Messiah, then they ask him if he is "the Prophet". To each he replies "no". Who is this mysterious Prophet? In English we capitalize names and often use capitalization as a form of distinction. An example could be "god" meaning a false or stone god and "God" meaning the one true God. When this verse is read in the English Bible this distinct capitalization is found in reference to the Prophet. This verse also indicates that The Messiah (Jesus) and this Prophet were two separate entities. If we look into the history of the Hebrews we will find that they had three prophetic expectations including the return of the Prophet Elijah (book of Malachi chapter 4 verses 1-5), the Messiah (Jesus) and a final prophet who would serve as the seal of God's prophets. This verse indicates dually that the Messiah and the final prophet were two separate beings expected to come. The Pharisees again finish by asking "Why then do you not baptize if you are not Elijah, nor the Christ, nor the Prophet?" If Jesus were the finalization of sin and the only way between us and God then why would there be a final prophet to come? Why would there need to be a "seal of the prophets"? This seal of the prophets was expected to speak the literal words of God and these words were expected to not be changed at the hands of man by a single letter. Could this prophet possibly be the beloved Muhommed? By taking an unbiased look into the red letters (claimed Biblical words of Jesus) Jesus himself foretells of this prophet to come.
In the book of John chapters 15-16 Jesus speaks about one to come after him. John 15: 26-27 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." And again in chapter 16: 5-16 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
Here we find Jesus speaking about how he will leave (not die I might add) for a while and then return and in the meantime he will ask God to send this "counselor" who will "guide you into all truth". In Aramaic and Hebrew translations of this verse the word counselor is actually the name of "Ahmed". Christian leaders have tried to claim that this "counselor" is the holy spirit however as I said the oldest Biblical transcripts contain the name "Ahmed" (which is a variant and in fact the true name of Muhommed). Since many people don't know Hebrew or Aramaic we can turn to the movie "Passion of the Christ" which took exact Aramaic wording from the Bible including this verse and makes it possible for us to hear the name of Muhommed and even the name of Allah as found in the above verse. I will attach the segment of that movie at the end of this blog. Further evidence can be found in that Jesus states that this "Counselor" will not come until Jesus goes back to God. If "the Counselor" won't come until Jesus leaves then it can not be the "Holy Spirit" since several verses in the Gospels (injeel) state that the holy spirit was with Jesus (which is also stated in the Quran) while he was on earth. This verse also states that "this counselor" will not speak on his own but will speak only what he hears and will speak of things to come. The way the Quran was "produced" was by the angel Gabriel speaking God's exact words to Muhommed. Muhommed could not read or write and only repeated what he was told. The verse doesn't say that this counselor would write down what he was told (The way Moses did) but instead says he will speak what he hears. When Muhommed told his loved ones that he had been told the first revelation he thought he was possessed. His wife told him that he was known around Mecca for being an honest and good man and that he could not possibly be possessed. Eventually so many people were accepting the message that he was saying (Quran) but they couldn't make it public out of fear of the leaders of Mecca so they would have private meetings memorizing the words given to Muhommed word for word. This miraculous memorization by so many people has made it possible for the Quran not to be changed. Many times in history when something is written it either gets lost or changed over time and often times Holy scrolls were kept only to religious and political leaders. Reversely, with the Quran many people memorized it and therefore it became impossible for anybody to change it even by a single word. Could this seal of the prophets mentioned in the first chapter of John foretold to bring an unchangeable word from God be Muhommed and the unchanged Quran?
Holy Quran Surah 21:45 "Say, "I do but warn you according to revelation": But the deaf will not hear the call, (even) when they are warned!"