The Islamic View of the Universe

(Friday Speech was delivered by Imam Mohamed Baianonie at the Islamic Center of Raleigh, N. C., on July 18, 1997)

Today I will continue talking about the intellectual foundation of Islamic

tarbiah, upbringing. In the past I had talked about the Islamic View of the Human
Being. Today inshallah I will talk about the Islamic view of the universe.

The Islamic view toward the universe is an intellectual, scientific view that creates
the human emotions and feelings toward the greatness of Allah the creator. It also
creates emotions and feelings toward the smallness of the human being and his
weakness in front of this universe, which leads to the necessity to submit to Allah
(S.W.T.).

1. The universe as a whole is a creation of Allah that created it for a purpose.

Playing was not the cause for creation. Allah (S.W.T.) says in surat Ad-Dukhan,
(Verses 38-39), what can be translated as, "We have not created the heavens and
the earth, and all that is between them, for mere play, We created them not
except with truth, but most of the do not know." Also Allah (S.W.T.) says in
surat Al-Anbiya’, (Verses 16-17), what can be translated as, "We have not
created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them for mere play.
If We wanted to create aimless things, we would have done it if we were going
to do (that)."

Qur’an demands man to think and reflect upon the creation of Allah, to reach to
the oneness of Allah and to submit exclusively to Allah. Allah (S.W.T.) says in
surat A-Zummar, (Verses 62-63 & 67), what can be translated as, "Allah is the
Creator of all things, and he is the Wakil, (Trustee, Dospose of affairs, Guardian,
etc.) Over all things. To Him belong the treasures of the heavens and the
earth. And those who disbelieve in the Ayat, (proofs, signs, etc.) of Allah, such
are they who will be the losers. They made not a just estimate of Allah such as
is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the earth, as a whole will be
grasped by His fist and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right. Glorified be
He, and High is He above all that they associate as partners with Him!"

There are important effects of this Islamic view toward universe upon tarbiyah
(upbringing): 1- The attachment of the Muslim to the creator of this universe and
to the noblest goal in this life and that is the total submission to Allah. 2- Brings
the human being up with seriousness because the whole universe was created upon
the truth and was created for a purpose and to a certain demise known only by
Allah.

2. The universe is subjected to certain absolute laws that Allah (S.W.T.) made
according to certain predestination prescribed by Allah. He (S.W.T.) says in surat
Yasseen, (Verses 37-40), what can be translated as, "And a sign for them is the
night, We withdraw therefrom the day, and behold, they are in darkness. And
the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed). That is the Decree of
the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing. And the moon, We have measured for it
mansions (to traverse) till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk. It is
not for the sun to catch up with the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day.
They all float, each in an orbit."

The fact that the sun and the moon are each in a well-defined orbit is all made
according to universal laws that Allah created. Allah (S.W.T) says in surat Al-
Hujur, (Verses 19-21), what can be translated as, "And the earth we made it
unfolded and planted in it mountains and made some plants in it to make
balanced and made in it your living and those whom you are not providing
sustenance for. And there is nothing but we have its treasures and we do not
release but with a well known portion." Everything alive on earth has their share
of sustenance well accounted for by Allah who does not release it but with a well
defined portion.

And also Allah (S.W.T.) taught man reckoning, calculations from the alternations
of the day and the night. Allah (S.W.T) says in surat Al-Isra’, (Verse 12), what can
be translated as, "And we made the night and day two signs; we erased the sign
of the night and made the sign of the day clear for you to make your living
from the blessings of Allah, and to know the number of years and reckoning
(calculations), and everything was well explained."

All this has a great and important effect upon tarbiyah; the Qur’an raised the mind
of the Muslim upon the fact that the occurrence of the same events is Done
according to fixed laws made by Allah (S.W.T.) and He (S.W.T.) is the one who
can change it if He wants. Also, these laws of this universe and its events and its
beings were released by Allah (S.W.T.) with a well known portion. This way, the
Muslim mind is raised to be accurate and to base everything on a standard.

3. The universe is ruled and watched over by Allah (S.W.T.): Allah (S.W.T.), who
made the laws of the universe, is still ruling it and watching over it. Allah (S.W.T.)
says in surat Al-Hajj, (Verse 65) what can be translated as, "And He withholds
the sky from falling upon the earth except by His permission." And in another
verse in surat Fatir, (Verse 41), Allah (S.W.T) says what can be translated as,
"Allah withholds the skies and the earth from crumbling, and if they crumble,
who can hold them after Him, Indeed he is ever most Forbearing and Oft-
forgiving."

The human, a tiny part of this universe, is also subjected in his life and death to the
well defined ending of Allah. Allah (S.W.T.) says in surat Al-An’aam, (Verse 61),
what can be translated as, "And he is the Irresistible, Supreme over his
servants, and he sends to you guardians (angels) over you and when death
comes to one of you, our messengers (angels) would take his soul and they
never neglect their duty."

Also, Allah (S.W.T.) created social laws for man’s life, and sends messengers to
enforce them, and torture some nations and perish others. Allah (S.W.T.) says in
surat Al-Ra’ad, (Verse 11), what can be translated as, "Verily! Allah does not
change the situation of a people as long they do not change their state of
themselves. And if Allah wants to harm some people, no one can stop it and
they will not find besides Him a protector." Also, in another verse, in surat Al-
Imran, (Verse 137) Allah (S.W.T.) says what can be translated as, "Many similar
events happened before you, so walk over the earth and see the punishment of
the disbelievers."

4. The whole universe is surrendered with obedience to Allah: Allah (S.W.T.) says
in surat Al-Baqarah, (Verse 116), what can be translated as, "For him is all what
is in the skies and what is on earth; all are surrendered with obedience to
Him." Also, in another verse in surat Al-Isra’, (Verse 44), Allah (S.W.T.) says,
what can be translated as, "The seven heavens glorify him, and so does the
earth and what is in them, and there is nothing but glorifies Allah, but you do
not comprehend their glorification."

This has a great effect on the tarbiyah of man because all beings are obedient and
submissive to their Lord. So, man should be the first to submit and obey Allah and
to become a harmonious part of the whole universe participating in the
glorification of Allah.

5. The whole universe is in the service of man: Allah (S.W.T.) says in surat
Luqman, (Verse 20), what can be translated as, "Do you not see that Allah made
available for you all what is in the skies and what is in the earth, flooded you
with many blessings known and unknown." Also, in another verse in surat
Ibrahim, (Verses 32-34), Allah (S.W.T.) says what can be translated as, "Allah is
the one who created the heavens and the earth and released from the sky
water from which he made fruits as a sustenance for you, and made available
for you the ships to float in the sea and made available for you the rivers, and
made available for you the sun and the moon incessantly in motion and made
available for you the night and the day, and gave you everything you asked
for, and if you count the blessings of Allah, you will not be able to count them.
Man is indeed oppressive and disbelieving." Allah (S.W.T.) also says in surat
An-Nahal, (Verses 12-18), what can be translated as, "And He made available
for you the night and the day and the sun and the moon and the stars all
obedient to him. Indeed, there are signs in this to people who have minds. And
what he spread for you on earth of different colors. Indeed, there is a great
sign in this for people who remember, and he is the one who made available
the sea from which you eat soft meat and make from it garments to wear. You
see the ships sailing in it, and to make your living from his blessings and so
you may thank him, and planted in the earth mountains so that the earth will
be stable and rivers and pathways so you may be guided, and signs and with
stars they are guided, Is that who does not create like the one who does?! Do
you not remember, and if you count the bounties of Allah, you will not be able
to count them. Allah is the forgiving and the compassionate."

ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF CREATION OF

UNIVERSE, BIG BANG AND SCIENCE-
RELIGION INTERACTION
Prof. Faheem Ashraf*

The picture of universe provided by the Big Bang Theory is fairly accurate. According to this theory
our universe came into existence about 15 billion years ago in a violent explosion. Quantum effects like
quantum fluctuation caused the generation of energy from almost nothing. The energy was spread uniformly.
Due to quantum uncertainty and other effects the uniformity was broken and there emerged the anisotropies.
These anisotropies during inflation period expanded into galactic sizes. While the universe was expanding it was
cooling as well. This cooling has caused the formation of different particles—matter formation. When the
energy got sufficiently low, the particles like neutron and protons combined to make primordial gases. These
gases due to anisotropies started to concentrate in some regions of universe giving rise to formation of galaxies
and stars. This description of creation of universe is supported both by experimental discoveries and
mathematical formulations. But there are some very interesting questions like what happened before the Big
Bang and what determine the properties of universe or the initial conditions? These questions are partly
answered by quantum gravity, to be more precise, the Hawking—Hartley’s ‘No Boundary Proposal’, which says
that universe has no initial or final boundaries and the universe is self generated.

There is another key question. It has been evident since long that if our physical constants have been
slightly different then the life on the Earth would not have been possible. Why the physical constants have the
value they have, or what made it that physical constants have such values to make life possible in this universe.  
Moreover, the overall chemical composition of the universe was determined by the physical conditions during
the first few seconds of the Big Bang. For example, the elements on which life depends such as Carbon,
nitrogen, oxygen and Iron are the products of nuclear fusion reactions within the stars if the initial condition
would have been different from formation of stars; nuclear fusion and supernova which distributed these would
not have been possible. Also the processes by which the chemical elements are formed are governed very
precisely by the strengths of four fundamental physical interactions: gravitation, electromagnetism, weak and
strong nuclear interactions. If the relative strengths of these forces were different, the resultant universe would
have been different. For example, increasing the strong nuclear interaction by 3 % relative to electromagnetic
interaction gives a cosmological model in which none of the known chemical elements could have been formed.
Conversely, decreasing it by just 1 % gives a model in which Carbon atoms would be highly unstable. Both
scenarios would preclude carbon-based life. Other tiny variation in these forces might have given rise to a
universe which contained 100 % helium or one in which supernova explosion could not occur (since these
explosions are though to be chief way in which the chemicals necessary for life are ejected from stars), these
scenario too preclude the evolution of life. These ‘precisions’ in the various parameters, such as to give rise to
life, are known as the ‘Anthropic coincidences’.

Last but not least what caused these physical laws to be applied in the universe or in other words
wherefrom these laws came?

There is no obvious physical reason, in the Big Bang theory, to the questions just raised.   But one thing
is quite certain that according to laws of nature we know today that very small changes in any of these key
parameters would have resulted in a grossly different universe. So the chance of life permitting universe would
be vanishingly small as compared to all theoretically possible universes.

Such enigmas can be responded either by appealing to God that the almighty God has set the values of
the physical constants such that the life should be possible or by invoking the ‘Anthropic Principle’. The first
option is referred to as Divine Action at Quantum Level. The other option though avoid direct appeal to God,
maintains that according to quantum Gravity—No Boundary Proposal, they are millions of different quantum
mechanically possible universes, each with different values of physical constants. Only those universes with
suitable physical constants will contain intelligent life.

It is obvious from the above discussion that the cosmology, like all other sciences, has deep religious
implications since it specifically deals with creation of universe and emergence of life which are central
questions of every religion. Scientific discoveries always challenged beliefs of all religions. Let see what is the
Islamic concept of creation of universe, and how have the challenges and implications, that have been posed by
Big Bang Theory and modern science, been responded by Muslims and Christians scholars?

Let see, first of all, what is Islamic concept of creation of universe and how Modern Muslims thinkers
and scholars tackle the question of Science—Religion interaction.

ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF CREATION OF UNIVERSE

One thing must be understood that The Quran is not a text book of Astronomy or Physics. As Dr Absar
Ahmed has said in his paper on “Creation and Evolution in Quranic Perspective’ that the primary function and
intent of the Quran is the detailed discussion of practical matters related to Guidance and the Straight Path.
These matters are of immediate and common concern for every single human being so that he or she may attain
salvation on the Day of Judgment. Consequently, the Quran keeps the needs of masses in focus and takes into
account their intellectual capacities; as a result, the Quran relies upon only general Pointers to address issues
related to specialized philosophical or academic interest, higher gnosis, and subtle spiritual realities. For those
with sharpened intellects and heightened spiritual sensibilities theses general pointers should be more than
enough to shed light on such matters”.

Now let’s see what picture emerges from the Quranic verses—pointers – referring to the creation of
universe.

According to The Quran, the life containing universe is solely created by the Almighty God—Allah—
and He is the Supreme Ruler of the universe. To this effect let me refer to few Quranic verses;

God is the Creator of everything; is the One, the Omnipotent. (13: 16)
God is the Creator of everything and He is incharge of everything. (39: 62)
Originator of Heaven and Earth, and whenever He decrees something, He says to it: ‘Be’ and it is. (2:
117)
Do they not see how God initiates the creation, and then reproduces it? Surely that is easy for God.
Say: ‘travel in the earth and see how God initiated the creation’. Then God will create another
creation; surely God has power over all things. (29:19-20)
Your guardian-Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six days and is firmly
established on the throne (of authority): He draweth the night as a veil o’er the day each seeking the
other in rapid succession: He created the sun the moon and the stars (all) governed by laws under His
command.  Is it not His to create and to govern?  Blessed be Allah the cherisher and sustainer of the
worlds! (7:54)
There are many other ayahs (verses) which refer to the fact that all that is on the Earth and in the
Heavens is created by Almighty God.

Second important fact according to The Quran is that this universe—Earth and Heavens—has definite
life period and has some definite objectives like other creations.
  

Sura No 46, Ayah No 3 says:

“We created not the heavens and the earth and all between them but for just ends and for a term
appointed: but those who reject faith turn away from that whereof they are warned”.
This Ayah clearly rejects any notion of eternal universe which other theories like steady state theory
holds.

Next important question is creation of universe from out of nothing or creatio-ex-nihilo. To this effect
we do see few direct references in The Quran, from which scholars have derived the creation ex-nihilo.

Sura 19 Ayah No 9 says: He said: "So (it will be): thy Lord saith `that is easy for Me: I did indeed
create thee before when thou hadst been nothing!' ".
Also scholars quote ayah No 47 of Sura 3, which says: She said:

"O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?"  He said: "Even so: Allah
createth what He willeth; when He hath decreed a plan He but saith to it `Be' and it is! And many
others used by scholars to infer the concept of creation ex-nihilo.
These Ayahs refer to the creation of human being and the birth of Christ but scholars that these
creations show that God has power to create things out of nothingness. He faces no difficulty and does not need
any material or resources in fulfilling this task.

Next thing is the concept of emergence of universe from a very dense state called singularity. To this
effect we see in Sura 21 ayah No 30 that:

Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of
Creation) before We clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing.  Will they not then
believe?
In Sura 21 two words ‘Rataq’ and ‘Fataq’ have been used. According to Maulana Maudoodi the words
‘Rataq’ and ‘Fataq’ means that the universe was in a fused matter and God decreed it to separate to form the
heavens and the earth. These words according to Maulana had different meaning for people of past, now,
Physics and Astronomy has changed the meaning of these words. Similarly Tahir ul Qadri maintains that these
words point to creation of universe from the initial singularity.

The Creation of universe started, Allama Tahir- ul -Qadri says, from initial state which is Falaq lets see
Translation of Sura Falaq by Tahir Ul Qadri;

“Take the refuge in My Omnipotence from all created things, which have been formed by an explosion
and ordered by My Lordship attribute. I am your lord, the ruler of the Galaxies, which I have scattered
into the infinite reaches of the space through a magnificent explosion that started from initial
singularity, and, through this explosion a lot of forces, energies radiations and reactions came into
existence, which may be damaging for life, so take refuge from those evils. Because whoever takes
refuge in Me is protected from all evils”.
Now as Anthropic principle and quantum gravity suggest that there could have been many more
quantum universes in addition to our universe, these universes may have their own values of physical constants
and nature of the physical laws. To this fact we refer to Sura 65 Ayah No 12 which says:

Allah is He Who created seven Firmaments (heavens) and of the earth a similar number. Through the
midst of them (Allah) descends His Command: that ye may know that Allah has power over all things
and that Allah comprehends all things in (His) Knowledge.
It should be noted that if the word ‘Samawat’ is taken equivalent to universe then there are at least 7
other universe (one above other like onion) each with its own sets of physical laws. And it is apparent from this
Ayah that God created other worlds system and God’s commands descend (Keep in mind the use of present
tense) in those systems. Use of present tense means that these systems exist today contrary to what Quantum
Gravity theories suggest.

As to the formation of Galaxies and stars, The Quran hints at the formation of the heavens and the earth
from the gaseous matter in Sura No 41 Ayah 11-12:

Moreover He Comprehended in His design the sky and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the
earth: "Come ye together willingly or unwillingly." They said: "We do come (together) in willing
obedience. So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days and He assigned to each heaven its
duty and command.  And We adorned the lower heaven with lights and (provided it) with guard.  Such
is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might Full of knowledge."
These ayahs show that the lowest heaven or our universe is decorated or provided with visible objects
like stars and galaxies, other heavens which lie above our system or universe may not contain the type of visible
objects like we have in our universe. These universes may contain different types of objects and even laws if we
consider the words ‘assigned to each heaven its duty and command’ means natural laws.

Referring to the uniformity of the universe on large scale Sura 67 Ayah No 3 says:

He Who created the seven heavens one above another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the
Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious so turn thy vision again: Seest thou any flaw?
Taken collectively, these ayahs—pointers—clearly demonstrate that the universe is created by Allah
the Almighty, who did not encounter any resistance or needed any resources to carryout His plan. He only said
Be and there started the process of creation of universe.

SCIENCE – RELIGION DEBATE: GLIMPSE OF MUSLIMS’ RESPONSE

Many Muslims believe that the historical conflict between religion and science was a conflict between
a particular religion—Christianity—and science, and that while it is too bad that Christianity emerged from the
engagement badly bruised, Islam has no fears of such a clash. The conclusion drawn about Islam needs to be
further elaborated. Science can not cause problem for Islam but it has definitely influence the outlook and
thinking of many Muslims scholars, theologians and even simple minded people. For example as we have just
shown that Islam has its own concept of creation of universe so the scientific concept of creation of universe like
Big bang theory has deep implications for Muslims. Thus this influence of science has given rise to, without
coming into limelight, a kind of science-religion debate since sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Let us take only a few
examples from our region and see how some leading scholars have taken science-religion relationship.

Let’s start with Allama Iqbal. He says in The Reconstruction of religious thought in Islam;

“The Quran recognizing that the empirical attitude is an indispensable stage in the spiritual life of
humanity, attaches equal importance to all the regions of human experience as yielding knowledge of
‘Ultimate Reality’ which reveals its symbols both within and without….the naturalism of the Quran is
only recognition of the fact that the man is related to nature, and this relation, in the view of its
possibility as a means of controlling her forces, must be exploited not in the interest of the unrighteous
desire for domination, but in the nobler interested of a free upward movement of spiritual life. In the
interest of securing a complete vision of Reality, therefore, sense—perception must be supplemented by
the perception of what the Quran Describes as Qalb.”
In another place Allama making his case for Ijtihad says;

“The teaching, of the Quran that life is a process of progressive creation necessitates that each
generation, guided but unhampered by the work of its predecessors, should be permitted to solve its
own problems”.
Thus we can see Iqbal strongly advocates synthesis of Science and Religion such that this synthesis
should be useful for spiritual development of man.

Strictly following Iqbal’s view came forward Ghulam Ahmed Pervaiz. He tried to inculcate a spirit of
rationality so that Muslim should take maximum advantage of science but in doing this he went too far,
according to Theologian, he tried to explain the Quran in modernistic terms using present scientific knowledge
instead of traditional approach. In this attempt, he in fact, adopted a line which is purely a kind integration of
Islam with modern values.

There is another track in the field of science – religion interaction. It is a form according to which
science and scientific knowledge can be employed to understand the Quran and Ahadith but Science, as
principle, occupies a lower place than the Sources of Islamic Traditions. This line can be seen in the work of
Maulana Maudoodi. We can see, in the work of Maulana Maudoodi, especially in Tarjuman Ul Quran, that he
uses scientific data extensively to explain matter related to universe and to clarify and elaborate the Quranic
message that had been difficult to understand hitherto. But whenever there is a conflict between the science and
religion, like birth control issue, Maulana quickly adopts orthodox line against the Science.

There is yet another line, according to which, the relation between science and religion is not question
of only theology or science but it is a question of philosophy as well. Let me quote famous Iranian scholar and
physicist Dr. Mehdi Golshani, he says;

“In my opinion, there are lots of confusion and fallacies concerning the problem of creation, especially
among modern cosmologists. This, in my humble view, is the result of their lack of philosophical
understanding. The problem of creation is not a matter of physics alone. It needs theological and
philosophical reflection as well”.
He further recommends the following strategy:

“We should explore our universe, by science, as much as we can, but we must avoid making claims
about the absolute origination of the universe on physical grounds. Philosophy and theology can save
us from making unsound exaggerated scientific claims, and can give us a proper metaphysical
framework for our science and a ground for our being. In this framework, the description of the
physical aspects of the universe is left for scientific investigation, but the ultimate explanation of the
universe is provided by God.”
There is yet another line advocated by Dr. Bilal Masood. He opines:

“A complete natural view of the world is not compatible with the Islamic beliefs as it is not compatible
with beliefs of any other religion. So, here we have some concerns against materialism that we have to
share with other religions of the world. The importance of balance in Islam is very relevant here: we
have to avoid both extreme views of too much supernatural and of no supernatural. He also asserts
that (in the preaching Islam) in spite of importance of (scientific) examples, it is important to keep in
mind that there is an approach to the Islamic beliefs that does not rely on (scientific) example-as –
arguments.
Despite different lines followed by Muslim Scholars the general pattern of thought is such that
Muslims usually uses science as a means of knowledge like other branches of knowledge and at the same time
Muslims uphold Revealed knowledge as well.

RESPONSE FROM CHRISTIAN SCHOLARS

Muslims, despite their present clash and mistrust with the west, share many common themes and
Beliefs with Christians. For example the belief of Omnipresent and Omnipotent God Who constantly act in this
universe. So the experiences of Christian theologians will be a good guide, to some extent, to appreciate and
understand the challenges of modern sciences to religion. Let see how the question of science-religion
relationship has been taken by Christians.

The science and religion are entangled with each other since 16 th century. This entanglement had
bruised both science and religion. Realizing the importance of both fields, it has now been felt that there should
be some meaningful relationship/interaction between both fields of knowledge and aspiration.  This has initiated
the field of study known as science- religion interaction. The field has explored the influences which science
exerts on the religion and vice versa. Ian Barbour, one the most respected scholar of science-religion debate, has
proposed that there are four types of relations or ways of relating science and religion. These are conflict,
independence, dialogue and integration. Similarly John F Haught, Professor at Georgetown University, also
proposed Ian Barbour typology. Let me quote his own words he says;
 “I see four principal ways in which those who thought about the problem express their understanding
of the relationship of religion to science. (1) Some hold that religion is utterly opposed to science or
that science invalidates religion. I shall call this Conflict position. (2)  Others insist that science and
religion are so clearly different from each other that conflict between them is logically impossible.
Religion and science both are valid, but we should rigorously separate one from other. This is contrast
position. (3) A third type argues that although science and religion are distinct, science always has
implications for religion and vice versa. Science and religion inevitably interact, and so religion and
theology must not ignore new developments in science. For the sake of simplicity I shall call this
contact approach. (4) Finally, a fourth way of looking at the relationship—akin to but logically distinct
from third—emphasizes the subtle but significant ways in which religion positively supports the
scientific adventure of discovery. It looks for those ways in which religion, without any way interfering
with science, paves the way for some ideas, and even gives a special kind of blessing, or what I shall
call confirmation, to the scientific quest of truth.’
It is not necessary to enter into more detail regarding the ‘Typology’ of the relationships between
science and religion. My aim is to present a general map of the ways of relating science and religion in Christian
and Muslim world. Keeping this in mind let see how some eminent Western scholars deal with Big Bang and
question of creation in religion.

One prominent reaction to Big Bang has been by those who saw Big Bang as a support for theism. As
Paul Davies put it:

A singularity is the nearest thing that science has found to a supernatural agent.

He also says that ‘The possibility that given the laws of physics, a universe can appear spontaneously
rests on the “prior” existence of these laws of physics. Given, the laws, the universe can take care of itself. But
where do the laws come from?

There is another view held by agnostics like S. Hawking their view point in S. Hawking’s words is;

“There would be no singularities at which the laws of science broke down, and no edge of space-time
at which one has to appeal to God or some new law to set the boundary conditions for space-time.”
 

And:

“But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have
neither beginning nor end. What place, then, for a Creator?”
There are some who are looking for a dialogue between the Science and Religion like Ian G. Barbour.
Let me now quote Ian G. Barbour, he says:

“It is equally impossible to imagine a beginning of time or an infinite span of time. Both are unlike
anything we have experienced. Both start with an unexplained universe. I will agree that the choice of
theories could be made on scientific grounds alone, and that the difference between them is only of
secondary importance religiously.”
Similarly R. J. Russell holds that:

“Whether the origin of the universe as we know it involves a previous quantum super space, or whether
the universe had an absolute beginning 15 billion years ago, the universe is contingent: it does not
seem to include the grounds for its own existence, it does not offer an ultimate explanation of why
anything at all exists in the first place, and therefore it points to that on which all beings necessarily
exist – God.
In brief there are three types of people in the west: the one who have ‘developed the system of idealism
by compromising reason with faith’, the other group has ‘developed the system of materialism by clear
separation from religious faith’ and third group hopes to integrate both through a dialogue between them.
 Now if we compare the Islamic concept of creation of universe appears in The Quran and Current Big
Bang theory, we can see that there are some features of Big Bang theory that are closely similar to the Islamic
concept of Creation of Universe, for example, creation out of nothingness, initial singularity, concept of
formation of galaxies from primordial gases, and uniformity of universe on large scale. Also there are a few
features of creation where there is no uniformity of ideas between Islamic concept and Big Bang Theory, for
example, notion of multi-universe/worlds. Second, if we compare the science religion relationship/interaction in
Christian perspective and in Islamic perspective we see that there is a great deal of similarity in the type of ways
of interaction/relationship and responses in both monotheistic religions. Third, that as we have seen that the
Islamic concept of creation of universe is not contrary to the present scientific theories; in fact the theories have
enhanced our understanding of the universe. This enhanced knowledge of the universe has improved our
understanding of the Quran and Ahadith. So science, though it has provisional theories has become a key
requirement in understanding Religion, as it explained several things like existence of other universes/worlds
and fused status of heaven and earth, etc which our old exegetes were unable to explain. Thus science is not
only a requirement of material comfort but also a key requisite for appreciation of religion. Fourth, science has
provided us a universal language with which we can interact with the people of other religions and
cultures.