The creation of the universe/BIG BANG ENGLISH
- 1. THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE BIG BANG In every age, people have always wondered how this seamless universe originated, where it leads to, how the laws maintaining its order and balance work. For centuries, scientists and thinkers have made numerous researches on this issue and produced quite a few theories. The prevailing thought in the 19th century was that the universe was a collection of matter infinite in size, that existed since eternity and that would continue to exist forever. Laying the groundwork for the materialist philosophy, this view denied the existence of a Creator while it maintained that the universe had neither a beginning nor an end. …………… Materialism is a system of thought that holds matter to be the only absolute being and denies the existence of anything but matter. Having its roots in ancient Greece and gaining an ever-increasing acceptance in the 19 th century, this system of thought became famous in the shape of the dialectical materialism of Karl Marx. The materialists considered the infinite universe model to be the most important mainstay of their atheist philosophies. For instance, in his book Principes Fondamentaux de Philosophie, the materialist philosopher George Politzer claimed that “the universe was not a created object” and added “If it were created, it would have to be created by God instantaneously and from nothingness”. When Politzer alleged that the universe was not created out of nothingness, he was relying on the static universe model of the 19 th century, and thinking that he was posing a scientific claim. However, science and technology that developed in the 20 th century ultimately pulled down this primitive idea called materialism. It was found that the universe is not constant as the materialists supposed, and just to the contrary, it keeps expanding. Besides, it was proven with many observations and calculations that the universe had a beginning and that it was created out of nothing with a big explosion. Today these facts are acknowledged by the entire world of science. And the discovery of these very important facts have been made possible as a result of revolutionary observations and findings. …………… In 1929, in the California Mount Wilson observatory, an American astronomer by the name of Edwin Hubble made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of astronomy. While he observed the stars with a giant telescope, he found out that they emitted a reddish light depending on their distance. This meant that the stars were “moving away” from us. Because, according to the recognised rules of physics, the spectra of light beams travelling towards the point of observation tend towards violet, while the spectra of light beams moving away from the point of observation tend towards red. During Hubble’s observations, the light from stars was discovered to tend towards red. This meant that they were constantly moving away from us.
- 2. Before long, Hubble made another very important discovery: Stars and galaxies moved away not only from us, but also from one another. The only conclusion that could be derived from a universe where everything moves away from everything else is that the universe constantly “expands”. To better understand, the universe can be thought of as the surface of a balloon being blown up. Just as the points on the surface of a balloon move apart from each other as the balloon is inflated, so do the objects in space move apart from each other as the universe keeps expanding. In fact, this had been theoretically discovered even earlier. Albert Einstein, who is considered the greatest scientist of the 20th century, had concluded after the calculations he made in theoretical physics that the universe could not be static. However, he had laid his discovery to rest, simply not to conflict with the widely recognised static universe model of his time. Later on, Einstein was to identify his act as ‘the greatest mistake of his career’. …………… What did the expansion of the universe imply? The expansion of the universe implied that if it could travel backwards in time, the universe would prove to have originated from a single point. The calculations showed that this ‘single point’ that harboured all the matter of the universe should have ‘zero volume’ and ‘infinite density’. The universe had come about by the explosion of this single point with zero volume. This great explosion that marked the beginning of the universe was named the ‘Big Bang’ and the theory started to be so called. …………… It has to be stated that ‘zero volume’ is a theoretical expression used for descriptive purposes. Science can define the concept of ‘nothingness’, which is beyond the limits of human comprehension, only by expressing it as ‘a point with zero volume’. In truth, ‘a point with no volume’ means ‘nothingness’. Thus the universe has come into being from nothingness. In other words, it was created. This fact, which was discovered by modern physics only in the 20 th century, was stated in the Qur’an 14 centuries ago: “He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth” (Surat al-An’am: 101) The Big Bang theory showed that in the beginning all the objects in the universe were of one piece and then were parted. This fact, which was revealed by the Big Bang theory was again stated in the Qur’an 14 centuries ago, when people had a very limited knowledge about the universe: Do unbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were sewn together, and then We unstitched them... (Surat al-Anbiya, 30) This is meant that the entire matter was created with a Big Bang out of a single point, and shaped the present universe by being parted from each other. The expansion of the universe is one of the most important pieces of evidence that the universe was created out of nothing. Although this fact was not discovered by science until the 20th century, Allah has informed us of this reality in the Qur’an revealed 1,400 years ago: It is We who have built the universe with (Our creative) power, and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it. (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 47) ……………
- 3. The Big Bang was an evident indication that the universe was ‘created from nothing’, in other words, that it was created by Allah. For this reason, astronomers committed to the materialist philosophy continued to resist the Big Bang and uphold the idea of the infinite universe. The reason for this effort was revealed in the words of Arthur Eddington, one of the foremost materialist physicists who said ‘Philosophically, the notion of an abrupt beginning to the present order of Nature is repugnant to me.’ Another materialist, the prominent English astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle was one of foremost who were disturbed by the Big Bang theory. In the middle of the century, Hoyle championed a theory called the steady-state which was similar to the ‘constant universe’ approach of the 19th century. The steady-state theory argued that the universe was both infinite in size and eternal in duration. With the sole visible aim of supporting the materialist philosophy, this theory was totally at variance with the ‘Big Bang’ theory, which held that the universe had a beginning. Those who defended the steady-state theory opposed the Big Bang for a long time. Science, however, was working against them. …………… In 1948, George Gamov came up with another idea concerning the Big Bang. He stated that after the formation of the universe by a big explosion, a radiation surplus should have existed in the universe left over from this explosion. Moreover, this radiation ought to be uniformly diffused across the universe. This evidence which ‘ought to have existed’ was soon to be found. In 1965, two researchers by the name of Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered these waves by chance. This radiation, called the ‘cosmic background radiation’, did not seem to radiate from a particular source but rather pervaded the whole of space. Thus it was understood that this radiation was left over from the initial stages of the Big Bang. Penzias and Wilson were awarded a Nobel Prize for their discovery. In 1989, NASA sent the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite into space to do research on cosmic background radiation. It took only eight minutes for COBE to verify Penzias and Wilson's calculations. The COBE had found the remains of the big explosion that had taken place at the outset of the universe. Defined as the greatest astronomic discovery of all times, this finding explicitly proved the Big Bang theory. Another important piece of evidence for the Big Bang was the amount of hydrogen and helium in space. In the researches, it was understood that the hydrogen-helium concentration in the universe complied with the theoretical calculations of the hydrogen-helium concentration remaining from the Big Bang. If the universe had no beginning and if it had existed since eternity, its hydrogen constituent should have already been completely consumed and converted to helium. …………… All of this compelling evidence caused the Big Bang theory to be embraced by the scientific community. The Big Bang model was the latest point reached by science concerning the origin of the universe. Defending the steady-state theory alongside Fred Hoyle for years, Dennis Sciama described the final position they had reached after all the evidence for the Big Bang theory was revealed. Sciama stated that he had defended the steady-state theory, not because he deemed it valid, but
- 4. because he wished that it were valid. Sciama goes on to say that as evidence began to pile up, he had to admit that the game was over and that the steady-state theory had to be dismissed. Prof. George Abel from the University of California also accepts the ultimate victory of the Big Bang and states that currently available evidence shows that the universe originated billions of years ago with the Big Bang. He concedes that he has no choice but to accept the Big Bang theory. …………… With the Big Bang’s victory, the myth of ‘eternal matter’ that constituted the basis of the materialist philosophy is thrown into the trash-heap of history. What, then, was before the Big Bang and what was the power that brought the universe into ‘being’ with this big explosion when it was ‘non-existent’? This question certainly implies, in Arthur Eddington’s words, the ‘philosophically repugnant’ fact for the materialists, that is, the existence of a Creator. The renowned atheist philosopher Antony Flew comments on the issue: Notoriously, confession is good for the soul. I will therefore begin by confessing that the Stratonician atheist has to be embarrassed by the contemporary cosmological consensus. For it seems that the cosmologists are providing a scientific proof, that the universe had a beginning. Many scientists who do not blindly condition themselves to be atheists have admitted the role of an almighty Creator in the creation of the universe. This Creator must be a being Who has created both matter and time, yet Who is independent of both. Well-known astrophysicist Hugh Ross has this to say: If time’s beginning is concurrent with the beginning of the universe, as the spacetheorem says, then the cause of the universe must be some entity operating in a time dimension completely independent of and preexistent to the time dimension of the cosmos. This conclusion tells us that God is not the universe itself, nor is God contained within the universe. Yes, matter and time are created by the almighty Creator Who is independent of all these notions. This Creator is Allah, Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. …………… In truth, the Big Bang caused much greater trouble for the materialists than the above confessions of the atheist philosopher, Antony Flew. For the Big Bang not only proves that the universe was created out of nothing, but also that it was brought into being in a very planned, systematic and controlled manner. The Big Bang took place with the explosion of the point which contained all the matter and energy of the universe and its dispersion into space in all directions with a terrifying speed. Out of this matter and energy, there came about a great balance containing galaxies, stars, the sun, the earth and all other heavenly bodies. Moreover, laws were formed called the ‘laws of physics’, which are uniform throughout the whole universe and do not change. The laws of physics that emerged together with the Big Bang did not change at all over a period of 15 billion years. Furthermore, these laws stand on calculations so scrupulous that even a millimetre’s variation from their current values could result in the destruction of the whole structure and configuration of the universe. All these indicate that a perfect order arose after the Big Bang. Explosions, however, do not bring about order. All of the observable explosions tend to harm, disintegrate, and destroy what is present. If we were to be introduced to a very detailed
- 5. order after an explosion we then might conclude that there was an ‘intelligent’ intervention behind this explosion and that all the pieces dispersed by the explosion had been made to move in a very controlled way. Sir Fred Hoyle, who finally had to accept the Big Bang theory after many years of opposition, expresses this situation very well: The big bang theory holds that the universe began with a single explosion. Yet as can be seen, an explosion merely throws matter apart, while the big bang has mysteriously produced the opposite effect - with matter clumping together in the form of galaxies. No doubt, if a great order arose with an explosion, then it should be accepted that the intervention of a Creator is involved in every moment of this explosion. …………… Another aspect of this extraordinary order formed in the universe following the Big Bang is the creation of a ‘habitable universe’. The conditions for the formation of a habitable planet are so many and so complex that it is impossible to think that this formation is coincidental. Paul Davies, a renowned professor of theoretical physics, stated, at the end of the calculations he made on the expansion rate of the universe, that this rate is inconceivably delicate. Davis says: Careful measurement puts the rate of expansion very close to a critical value at which the universe will just escape its own gravity and expand forever. A little slower and the cosmos would collapse, a little faster and the cosmic material would have long ago completely dispersed. The big bang was not, evidently, any old bang, but an explosion of exquisitely arranged magnitude. The famous physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking states in his book A Brief History of Time, that the universe is set on calculations and balances more finely tuned than we can conceive. Hawking states with reference to the rate of expansion of the universe: If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size. Paul Davies also explains the unavoidable consequence to be derived from these incredibly precise balances and calculations: It is hard to resist the impression that the present structure of the universe, apparently so sensitive to minor alterations in the numbers, has been rather carefully thought out… The seemingly miraculous concurrence of numerical values that nature has assigned to her fundamental constants must remain the most compelling evidence for an element of cosmic design. In relation to the same fact, an American professor of Astronomy, George Greenstein, writes in his book The Symbiotic Universe: As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency must be involved. …………… Briefly, when we examine the glorious system in the universe, we see that the existence of the universe and its workings rest on extremely delicate balances and an order too complex to be explained away by coincidental causes. As is evident, it is by no means possible for this delicate balance and order to have been formed on its own and by coincidence after a great explosion.
- 6. The formation of such an order following an explosion such as the Big Bang is a clear evidence of a supernatural creation. This matchless plan and order in the universe certainly proves the existence of a Creator with infinite knowledge, might and wisdom, Who has created matter from nothing and Who controls and manages it incessantly. This Creator is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.
- 7. The formation of such an order following an explosion such as the Big Bang is a clear evidence of a supernatural creation. This matchless plan and order in the universe certainly proves the existence of a Creator with infinite knowledge, might and wisdom, Who has created matter from nothing and Who controls and manages it incessantly. This Creator is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.