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Quran

Expanding Universe in the Qur'aan

3 min read 469 words

Claim

The Qur’aan mentions the expansion of the universe. It was revealed in the seventh century, 1300 years before science actually discovered this fact. Thus proving the creator of the Qur’aan had divine knowledge.

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image f5115a5cddbbaf72

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Refuting Objections

1. Does No Quraan Translation back up the “expanding” Part?

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They do. We will use saadi to our aid here.

tafsir as-sa’adi

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image d09aa9cdcc465612

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one other example in Old Swedish, translated by Johan Fredrik Sebastian Crusenstolpe, year 1843 (which is before the Big Bang theory):

Vi hafva bygt himmelen med mägta styrka; och vi äro de some utvidgat den:

“utvidgat” means expanded.

meaning, interpretations of this verse referring to expansion existed well before the actual scientific discovery.

Google translate on 51:47.

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image cebcd0b3171f67a9

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2. Does No Tafsir Refer to the “expansion” of Universe?

وقوله (وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ) يقول: لذو سعة بخلقها وخلق ما شئنا أن نخلقه وقدرة عليه. ومنه قوله (عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُ) [البقرة: ٢٣٦] يراد به

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image 13ce9bc2ce08d192

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Above we have tafsir tabary, explanation of 51.47, see how it relates this verse to “extension in capacity” which is in fact the definition of expansion.

Also, in the same tafsir,

وقال ابن زيد في ذلك ما حدثني يونس، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد، في قوله (وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ) قال: أوسعها جلّ جلاله.

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Ibn Zayd said about this what Yunus told me, he said: Ibn Wahb told us, he said: Ibn Zayd said, in his statement (And indeed, We are expanding) , he said:

He, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, has expanded it.

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Now, why is there not much mention of the expansion in tafsir?

  • First, sa’adi and tabary, two well respected scholars did interpret this verse to mean expansion of the universe, even though there was no such scientific concept back then.

  • Second, as for those who didn’t interpret that way, they most probably didn’t translate it with the scientific connotation due to it being unheard of at the time. They did refer to extension in Allah’s creation, and with the context of heaven/universe, it fits just as well to refer to the current scientific context.

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3. Modern Translators Mainly Translate it to Mean “expanded”

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image 16b23b46c7418029

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4. Does it Say “heaven” and Not Universe?

Sama’ (سَّمَآءَ) can also mean the universe in Arabic.

See 37:6,

“Indeed, We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment of stars”.

so the objection “the quran refers to expanding heavens and not universe” is invalid

also,

When the Quran was written: The word for Universe did not really exist in Arabic just like the word Universe did not exist in English before physicists. The Word universe meant something else like “all that exists”.

So the Quran may not say the ‘Alkoon’ because at the time it was written, that word did not denote “the universe”.