Note: Footnotes are numbered and given in Italics.
This is an excerpt taken from the essay "Quranic Cosmology: A short scientific introduction" http://deenrc.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/quranic-cosmology-a-short-introduction-by-ay-mol-f.pdf.
I strongly believe that eventually mankind will have learned and pursuit the goals and values of peace and progress and will explore the Universe and be successful as a species. But as all species, Man will die out due to the ever changing environment of the Universe which is slowly working to its next phase called “Akhira†in the Qur'an, meaning future and the other existence1. The Universe will collapse and is formed again using the same process, but as with any evolution, it will be on a higher scale of development and so will have more possibilities and features then the first Universe. It is an upgraded version. As the whole Universe is based on an energy-blue print scientists call the Quantum Field, which stores all information of the Universe, every person, every molecule is stored in there and the new Universe will follow this blue print again as the first Universe did, but now containing also the information of all what occurred in the first Universe. Just as the Big Bang in reality is an unwinding of the Universe, in the same way it will roll up again.
1 Page 14-15 under the root Akhara. Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an by Abdul Mannar Omar, 2006 4th edition. He gives: “Go backwards, retreat/recede/retire, hold back/delay/postpone/defer, last/back part of a thing . Another, other, second.†Page 37 under the root Awala. He gives: “To return, be before, come back to. To resort to; namely [a thing of any kind; the thing or place whence he or it originated, or came. His or its origin or source; his or its original state, condition, quantity, weight; any place. A former action, saying, or the like]. To return or restore to [ a thing, place, or disposition], former generations.†Also Page 68-69 & 162-165 Volume 1. Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane, based on Taj-Ul-Roos, 2003 2nd reprint. As Awalla means former generations and is the opposite word of Akhara, then Akhara also conveys the meaning of future generations. In the Qur'an the word is both used for the future in the present life, as well as life after death. In religious terms this is mainly conveyed as the Hereafter or Afterlife, a terminology I have avoided here because it has its own mythological baggage which would be confused with the Qur'anic and scientific explanation of the Hereafter I try to explain in this paper.
Or as explained by Edward Hardy:
“In some tens of times 10to the 9th years, the recession of the neighbouring galactic systems will cease, and the process will start to reverse.†2
2 Origin and Evolution of the Universe by Edward Hardy.
21:104 On that Day We shall roll up the Sky as a written scroll is rolled up. Then, just as We initiated the first Creation, We shall create a new Universe. This is a Promise incumbent upon Us. Truly We shall fulfill it.
77:8-9 So when the stars are put out. And when the sky is riven asunder.
Prof. Seth Loyd:
“The Universe is made of bits. The way in which the Universe registers and processes information determines what it is and how it behaves. It has been known for more than a century that every piece of the Universe - every electron, atom, and molecule - registers bits of information. It is only in the last ten years, however, with the discovery and development of quantum computers, that scientists have gained a fundamental understanding of just how that information is registered and processed. Seth Lloyd calls this fundamental understanding of the Universe in terms of information processing 'the computational Universe'[..] Starting from basic concepts of physics, [...] how all physical systems register information. [...] account of how information is stored and processed at the level of electrons, atoms, and molecules. [...] the information processing power of the Universe can be harnessed to build quantum computers and explains how the Universe itself behaves like a gigantic computer, transforming and processing information. [...] the history of information processing from the big bang to the present day, and reveals how the computational ability of the Universe promotes the evolution of complex structures such as life.†3
3 Backcover. Programming the Universe by Seth Loyd, 2006.
In the Qur’an the same information is told about a universal record, a universal database. The Qur’an calls it the Umm Al-Kitab. The Arabic word Kitaab means: writing, scripture, book, something that contains written information, letter, recording 4. Umm means: Source, Principle, Origin, Prototype 5.
4 Page 478 under the root Kataba. Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an by Abdul Mannar Omar, 2006 4th edition. He gives: “He wrote it, to dictate it, prescribe/appoint/ordain, judged / passed sentence / decreed, drew/brought together, collected, conjoined / bound, he sewed it, what is written (e.g. of law), mode/manner of writing, book, bookseller, a thing in which or on which one writes, record/register/writ, revealed scripture, a writer/scribe/secretary, an army/military force, troop.†Also Page 117-119 Volume 7. Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane, based on Taj-Ul-Roos, 2003 2nd reprint.
5 Page 31-32 under the root Ummun. Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an by Abdul Mannar Omar, 2006 4th edition.
In verse 13:39 it says:
13:39 God blots out and establishes communities according to His laws. Nations rise and fall accordingly, and with Him is the Umm Al-Kitab, the Divine Database, the Origin of all information.
All of the information that controls the Universe is written in the Universe's Laws:
6:38 All creatures on Earth and all the birds that fly on two wings are communities like you. We did not omit any knowledge from this Book that was essential to be given through Revelation. All these creatures are part of the Divine Plan and they are together working the Plan of their Lord.
6:59 With Him are the keys of the Unseen. (None but He knows the subtle processes and their stages where actions culminate into their logical outcome). He knows everything in the land and in the sea. Not even a leaf falls without His knowledge. Neither is there a grain in the dark depths of the soil, nor anything fresh or withered, that He knows not. But all is written in the Open Book of the Universe around you.
11:6 There is not a creature in the Earth but its sustenance depends on Allah. He is Aware of its habitation and of the needs of His creation at every stage (6:99). He carries them from one station to another until the final destination. His Laws are preserved in the Clear Book of Decree, the Divine Database (55:29).
27:75 And there is nothing hidden in the heaven and the Earth but it is in a clear Record.
43:4 And, verily, in the Source of Decrees with Us, it is indeed sublime, decisive.
All of our deeds are recorded and archived inside the Universal database.
4:81 They express verbal allegiance to the System, “It is Obedience!†But when they go away from you a party of them spends the night in planning against the Belief System you preach. They discuss ways to corrupt the Message. Allah records what they plan by night.Ignore them, go ahead with your Program and trust in Allah (6:107). Allah is Sufficient as Guardian.
10:21 When We cause people to taste of Mercy after they have suffered a hardship, they start scheming to defy Our Commands. Say, “Allah is more Swift in planning. Our couriers write down what you plot.â€
17:71 But one Day We shall summon all human beings with their records. One who is given his record in the right hand will read it in jubilation. This will be a symbol of success for them, and they will receive their rewards without the least reduction.
19:79 Nay, We shall record what he says, and prolong for him a span of torment.
36:12 Verily, We give life to the dead, and We record all they send before them and their footprints. And all things and events are recorded in a Clear Record. (What the humans do, the imprints of their actions on their “Self†and what they leave for posterity).
43:19 And they ‘make’ the Malikah [forces of the Universe] who are servants of the Beneficent, females. Did they witness their creation? Their testimony will be recorded, and they will be called to account (for their false claims).
43:80 Or do they think that We do not hear their secret plans and private meetings? Yes indeed, We do, and Our envoys are with them, recording. (10:21).
45:29 “This Our Record tells the truth about you. Behold, We arranged for all your doings to be meticulously recorded.
50:4 (But) We know what the Earth takes of them. (It is only their physical body that becomes dust. Their “Self†lives on). And with Us is a Guarded Kitab, Recording.
50:18 Not even a word can he utter but there is an ever-vigilant watcher with him.
57:22 No disaster befalls the Earth, nor yourselves but according to the Laws that We have already recorded in the Book of Decrees. Verily, all this is easy for Allah.
69:18-20 On the Day you will be brought, not a single hidden deed of yours will remain hidden. Then he who is given his record in his right hand, will say, “Come all of you around! Read this my record. Behold, I always thought that my account would be given to me.â€
69:25-26 But as for him who is given his record in his left hand, he will say, "Oh, I wish I was never given my record. And knew not my account.
78:29 But We place on Record everything.
Scientist and philosopher Ervin Laszlo:
“Energy must be conveyed by something; it does not act in a vacuum. Rather, scientists are now coming to the insight that it does act in a vacuum, namely in the quantum vacuum[lowest dimension which our Universe exists in. That vacuum is far from empty], it is an active, physically real cosmic plenum. It conveys not only light, gravitation, and energy in its various forms, but also information; more exactly, “in-formation.â€6
“There is no evident limit to the information that interfering vacuum wavefields could conserve. In the final count, they could carry information on the state of the whole Universe.â€7
6 Page 68. Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo, 2007 2nd edition. The vacuum is the basis in which the whole Universe lies, it is the foundation level. It was also presumed to be empty, but now science starts to understand the foundation level is on unending energy dimension which connects everything within the Universe with one another. This vacuum is also called the Zero Point Field or QuantumVacuum.
7 Page 71. Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo, 2007 2nd edition.
The Qur’an explains the human consists of two things, the biological body and the human consciousness, which calls it “Nafs†8. According to the Qur’an, the Nafs will exist beyond the biological body. The above quotation talks about every piece of information is stored within the universal database. This also accounts for the human Nafs, his consciousness. Our personality with all its deeds, thoughts, characters and beliefs is stored in the Umm Al-Kitaab, the universal database.
8 Page 572-573 under the root Nafasa. Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an by Abdul Mannar Omar, 2006 4th edition. It means Self, ego or Psyche.
The Qur’an then claims a new Universe will be created wherein all humans will experience consciousness and where it is confronted with the level of development of their Nafs:
11:106-108 Those who, by their deeds, brought misery on themselves will be in the fire, marked by their deeds, sighing and wailing will be their portion. [Al-Nar=Fire, To be marked, war] Therein to abide, as long as the (New) Universe endures; that is time beyond count, unless your Developer of every stage of evolution decrees otherwise. Your Developer is Doer of what He wills in the World of command.
6:73 And He it is Who has created the heavens and the Earth through a process of steps with a definite Purpose. Whenever He says Kun, Be it is (written into the Blue print of the Universe). [Khalaqa= creating something through a process that takes time. It does not mean instant creation.] His Word is the Truth. And He is responsible for the Laws that control infuses, shapes and finishes the Era of (the New Universe). [Malik= To control and rule a realm. Yauwme=Era=Timeperiod Sur=to shape/form, fashion mark, picture, adorn, prepare, make] Knower of the Invisible and the Visible, for, He is the Wise, the Aware. [3]
21:104 ...Then, just as We initiated the first Creation, We shall create a new Universe. This is a Promise incumbent upon Us. Truly We shall fulfill it.
Scientist and philosopher Ervin Laszlo:
“We begin by noting that the evolution of Universes within the Metaverse is cyclic but not repetitive. One Universe informs another; there is a progress from Universe to Universe. Each Universe is more evolved than the one before. The cycle itself evolves from a random and more tuned to the evolution of complexity. Thus cosmic evolution is towards Universes where complex and coherent structures emerge, including structures that harbor evolved forms of life-and the evolved forms of mind that are presumably always associated with evolved forms of life. “9
9 Page 93. Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo, 2007 2nd edition. The Metaverse is a term used for the the level of the vacuum where Universes are created in. It is the foundation for the Universes that are created within the Quantum Vacuum. Our present Universe is a Universe existent within the Metaverse, probably together with several other Universes unknown to us. When our Universe stops existing, all the information generated by our Universe is present within the Quantum Vacuum, and this information will be the basis for the new Universe created within the Metaverse. So each new Universe will have more and more information until it reaches a form of completion and perfection. This is what the Quran calls Jannah, a state of growth and God is called Rabb, the Developer to perfection, and He has made the Universe in such a way that it will reach ultimate coherence and perfection.
“The whole picture is not limited to our own finite Universe; there is also a temporally (whether or not also spatially) infinite or quasi-infinite Metaverse. And life in the Metaverse need not end with the devolution of local Universes [such as our own]. While life in each local Universe must end, it can evolve again in the Universes that follow. If evolution in each local Universe starts with a clean slate, the evolution of life in local Universes is a Sisyphean effort; it breaks down and starts again from scratch, time after time. But local Universes are not subject to this ordeal. Each Universe in-forms the next Universe. Thus in each Universe life evolves further and further, toward coherence and complexity. Cosmic evolution is a cyclical process with a learning curve. Each Universe starts without life, evolves life when some planets become capable of supporting it, and wipes it out when planetary conditions pass beyond the life-supporting stage. But the vacuum shared by all the Universes is more and more informed, and it created more and more favorable conditions for the evolution of life. Cyclically progressive evolution in the Metaverse offers a positive prospect for the future of life: it can continue in one Universe after another. And it can evolve further and further, in Universe after Universe.†10
10 Page 102. Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo, 2007 2nd edition.
The universal law of evolution will allow the Nafs that were benefiting to their species and the whole Universe, develop further. The Nafs that were not benefiting, will not be part of further evolution and will remain in a state of stagnation, the state of Jahannam, the state of stagnation. In a sense they have been thrown out of the cosmic cycle and thrown into the cosmic garbage dump, Jahannam, which, as said before, was the name of the old garbage dump of Jerusalem.
Robert Briffault again:
“In the natural scale, that action is good which contributes to the process of human development, that act is evil which tends to impede, retard, oppose that process: that individual life is well deserving which is in the direct line of that evolution, that is futile which lies outside the course of its advance; that is Condemned which endeavours to oppose the current. That is the natural, the absolute and actual standard of moral values. Nature does not value the most saintly and charitable life which brings no contribution to human growth, as much as a single act which permanently promotes the evolution of the race. The only measure of worth of which nature takes any account– by perpetuating it–is the contribution offered towards the building tip of a higher humanity.â€11
Page 352. The Making of Humanity by Robert Briffault, 1919.
21:47 We will set up the scales of justice on the Era of Resurrection, and no person will be wronged in the least. Though the good or evil be of the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. We are Sufficient for reckoning and none can take account as We do.
7:8-9 The scales on that Day will be truly equitable. Those whose constructive deeds are heavy, will prosper. And those whose scales are light, will be the ones who have put their own ‘self’ in loss. This is because they used to replace Our revelations with man-made dogmas.
23:102-103 Then those whose scales (of good deeds) are heavy, they are the successful. And those whose scales are light, it is those who have wasted their own ‘self’, and abide in Jahannam, the state where further development is no more possible.
As we can see in the above verses, and the points made in step 21 (of the essay), it is clear not one single deed will be ignored and forgotten. The Qur’an gives these laws which operate the judgment system which will determine if a person is fit for further evolution:
- Every human action affects his own Self (6:164). His deeds are recorded by the Universal Forces, Malikah, constantly into the Umm Al-Kitaab, the Divine datebase which is called the Quantum Field/Vacuum by scientists (21:47, 99:7-6, 78:29, 82:10-12).
- The Self is also affected by hidden and unfulfilled desires or intentions as these are the foundations for further actions not committed (40:19).
- Only Allah knows how much credit or discredit is to be given to a particular act. (53:32), but the benefiting deeds outweigh the harmful ones by 10 to 1 (6:160). And God’s Rahma, all the resources for further development, is the reason for our creation, and this will also weigh, He has created us for further development, this is His driving thought behind our creation, and this will decide how His law of judgment will work:
11:119 Save him on whom your Developer of all your stages of evolution has given His Rahma, His continuous nourishment; and for that He did create them.
- When the new Universe is created, to determine the level of evolution (Jannah), or non-evolution (Jahannam), all the actions will be weighed. Those whose balance of good and constructive deeds are in the majority (is heavier) will evolve further, but those whose balance goes against them (is lighter) are the ones who have harmed themselves by their willful rejection of Allah's Message and will be in a state of non-evolution (7:8-9).
- As the system is fair and based on your personal development, no one would be able to help any other, nor any intercession is allowed (2:123).
- No action would go un-recompensated (3:25).
- Everyone will get the consequence of his own deeds. (7:147, 52:16, 37:39, 45:28).
- Absolute and full justice will be done, and no one will be dealt with unjustly, as the selection is made by laws and not by emotions (16:111, 40:17, 39:70).
- No one will be able to transfer his good or bad deeds to others – every person will be judged on their own contributions or harm to one’s Self or others (2:286, 6:105, 6:165, 10:108, 13:17, 17:7, 17:15, 27:40, 27:92, 29:6, 31:12, 35:18, 39:41, 45:15).
Muslim scholar and philosopher Ghulam A. Parwez:
Will and action are of paramount importance for the development of the self and, therefore, for its survival too. Will and action are really aspects of the same process. Action is "will actualised" and will is latent action. It has been truly said "no will, no action," but the reverse is also true "no action, no will." Only a free self possesses "will" in this sense, and only such a self can perform actions which have relevance to survival. Animals act under the compulsion of instinctive urges and without foresight of the results of their actions. They, therefore, cannot be credited with will as we understand it. In the same way, the activities of the animal are not actions. An action is that which has been deliberately chosen by a free self and has been voluntarily performed by it. The free self expresses itself in action and holds itself responsible for it. Without freedom and responsibility, action, in this restricted sense, is not possible. These facts about "will and action" have a direct bearing on the question of survival. Man is the product of a long evolutionary process.
This process does not stop at any point, but continues indefinitely. At a certain stage, man becomes an active participant in it and through his free will and purposeful activity determines, within certain limits, both the speed and the direction of evolutionary process. This process which has been at work in the world for untold aeons is now transformed into something far more rational and meaningful. It also becomes more dependent on its material, i.e., humanity through which it working. The primitive organisms were moulded and shaped by natural force, so as to be fit for the next stage in evolution. It was a long and painful process in which the unfit were ruthlessly weeded out and the fit were permitted to flourish. Man cannot now depend on natural forces to mould him and make him fit for the next stage. He must do the higher stage on which he is to enter. His self is not changed by natural forces nor even by random activity. It is changed only by his moral activity, his freely chosen and voluntarily performed actions. If, through right actions, he has rendered himself fit for the next stage in "the gradual ascent," he enters Jannah or paradise, as each plane of existence must appear to someone coming from a lower one.
On the other hand, a man who is unfit, feels anguish and misery at the sight of good things he cannot enjoy, of opportunities he cannot avail of, of a glorious life just beyond his reach. He is in Hell. As already stated, Heaven and Hell are not localities but states of mind. However, as a state of mind is transitory, it is not a suitable term. Heaven (Jannah) stands for fruition coupled with glowing home for the future. Hell (Jahannam) is the experience of frustration tinged with remorse and regret. The person who permits his self to weaken, stagnates and becomes perverted. He languishes in a state between life and death. He does not live because life consists of upward movement of which he is incapable: he cannot die because remorse and frustrated desire prevent him from relinquishing his hold on life. Both the pleasure of existence and the insensibility of non-existence are denied him. The Qur’an says about him, "Wherein he neither dies nor lives" (87: 13) All that he can do is to give expression to the remorse that gnaws at his vitals, "Oh! that I had sent something before hand for my life" (89 : 24). The inmates of Jannah, on the other hand, will give expression to their happiness in these words: "We shall not die any other than our first death" (37 : 57-58). They have successfully stood the test of death and they know that they will not be subjected to the same test again. Their eyes dwell on new vistas of self-development and the path which leads to them is illumines by the Divine light "running before them and on their right hand" (57: 12)., The materialists maintain : "There is no other than life in this world. We live and die and nothing destroys us but time" (45 : 24). The Qur’an, however tells us that we can rise much higher above the plane of Earth-rootedness and "pass out of the confines of the heavens and Earth" (55: 33), provided we develop the powers that are latent in us.†12
12 Page 199-200. Islam: A Challenge to Religion by G.A. Parwez, 1996 3rd edition.
Every person, every species that will be selected to be part of this Universe is judged on their potential and contribution to their species and the Universal Evolution as a whole. Every person and species that did not fit the criteria will not be selected. This state of non-selection is also called Jahannam in the Qur’an. As you are literally thrown in the Universal garbage dump. The persons and species that are selected will emerge again in the new Universe through the process of Evolution (22:5) and will have far more abilities and potentials then in the first Universe. See how the verse clearly makes a connection between the creation in this Universe and the next. It makes clear that in the next Universe we will be created again through a developing system:
22:5 O mankind! If you are in doubt that humanity will one day stand on its feet, and that you will be resurrected back to life after death, consider the process of your own evolution. We have created you in stages: From dust, then from male and female gametes, then from a zygote, then from an embryo, shapely and first shapeless. We thus clearly explain things
for you. The embryo and then the fetus stay in the womb until an appointed term according to Our laws. Then We bring you forth as infants and carry you to maturity. While some of you die young, others live to the feeblest old age so that they know nothing after knowing
much. (Resurgence of humanity can take place just as) you, O Prophet, see a dry barren land, but when We send down water on it, it vibrates with life and grows all kinds of beautiful plants.
They will not fall back into war or misery as they have outgrown this learning phase, it is not possible for this newly evolved human to go against the harmony of the Universe. They will also not experience death as even if the Second Universe will collapse (11:107-108), they will move on to the next stage without pain or inconvenience, they are in a continues state of Jannah, everlasting growth and development. The persons that are in the state of Jahannam, several of these will maybe also move on to states of growth as in the state of Jahannam they have gained the status of being fit for further Evolution (11:107-108). But the rest will be lost and will burnout into non-existence when the second phase of the Universe has run its completion.
44:56-57 True immortality! They do not taste death again after the first death. Thus will He save them from getting stuck at Jaheem, the Insurmountable Barrier where no progress is made. A bounty from your Developer of all your stages of evolution! That is the Supreme Triumph. [Rabb=Nourisher= Developer=To foster a thing from one stage to the other until it has reached its goal of completion]
32:17 And no human being can imagine what blissful delights are kept hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.
Scientist and philosopher Ervin Laszlo:
“What can we say about the super-evolved forms of life that would come about in the mature stages of mature Universes? Since the course of evolution is never predictable, we can actually say very little. All we can surmise is that mature organisms in mature Universes will be more coherent and complex than the forms of life familiar to us. In most other respects they could be as different from the organisms we know on Earth as humans are different from the protozoan slime that once populated the primeval seas of this planet.â€13
13 Page 102-103. Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo, 2007 2nd edition.
29:20 Say, “Travel in the earth and find out how He originated creation. And how afterward, Allah brings forth entirely new forms. Verily, Allah is the Designer of all things.â€
1:2 All amazement and the resulting praise will be due to Allah, the Universal Force who has complete Authority, as He has given us the favor of Life and Freedom out of His own Choice. The Developer and Maintainer of the complete Creation, the Universes and all that they contain, and fosters these in their Development so they can reach its goal of Completion. The Determiner of the rules and Laws which will bring us into Perfection. The Sustainer of all Dimensions and the fabrics of Reality. 14
84:19 That you shall most certainly enter one state after another, from one stage to the other, Tabiq. 15
66:8...."Our Developer, keep perfecting our light for us, and protect us; You are able to do all things."
14 Exposition of Chapter 1, Surah Al-Fatiha by Arnold Yasin Mol, 2007. “Rabb thus has many meanings as Determiner, Provider, Sustainer, Perfecter, Rewarder, Ruler, Creator, Maintainer, Reposer, of Qualities, Developer, King of Nature, Former of Rules and Laws. And the best short definition in my eyes is: The Maintainer of Evolution. Alameen refers to worlds or Universes and refers to all dimensions in the Creation and all they contain of Life, matter, energy and things which we haven’t understood yet.It comes from Ilm, meaning knowledge and refers to all that is knowable.†See also Page 197-199 under the root Rabba. Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an by Abdul Mannar Omar, 2006 4th edition. He gives: To be a lord and master, collect, possess/owner, rule, increase, complete, bring up, preserve, chief, determiner, provider, sustainer, perfecter, rewarder, creator, maintainer, reposer of properties, developer, former of rules and laws of the growth, foster a thing in such a manner as to make it attain one condition after another until it reaches its goal of completion.â€
15 Page 337 under the root Tabaqa. Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an by Abdul Mannar Omar, 2006 4th edition. It means Adapting, Layers, Stages, Series, State.