Islam
Time and space-an Quranic concept
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arifmian786
Second Rise of Islam
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Time and Space- existence in pairs (2)


Time and space are described as a twin/ interdependent phenomenon; there is no time without space and no space without time. Without ascertaining the validity of this scientific and philosophical concept of time and space, we would see how this concept is seen in the light of Quran and Sunnah.

Allah has created everything in pairs. This reality has been described in Quran which states: “And of all things We created two mates; perhaps you will remember” (al-dhariat-49). “And He Who created pairs (azwaj) of all things, and made for you of the ships and the cattle what you ride on” (al-zhkhruf-12).
From these verses, it is evident that Allah has created everything in pairs.
It means plants, animals, human beings, waters, space, time, all natural forces, all natural laws - all exist in pairs. This reality has been discovered in respect of some creations like plants, waters, and some natural forces, but it is yet to be discovered in respect of other creations.

Time and space also exist in pairs; each of time and space exists in the form of pair. In other words, there are two types of time as there are two types of space.

Sura al-maarij states that “Lord of the Ascending Stairways. The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years” (al-ma,arij-3,4). These stairways or gates are used by Hazrat Gabrael (as) and other angels to reach to such divine proximity from where they receive commandments from Allah, and such ascendance of angels from earth to seventh sky takes ONE DAY (twenty four hours) which is actually equal to fifty thousand years on earth. It means events happen quicker as we move from 1st sky to upper skies; the events occurring in fifty thousand years on earth take one day/24 hours to occur on upper skies. In other words, one second spent in the seventh sky would be equal to 13.88 hours spent on earth; it means the events which happen in one second in seventh sky would happen in 13.88 hours on earth. That is why Allah states: “Indeed, they see it [as] distant, But We see it [as] near”(al-ma,arij-6,7). It also explains why 'meraj' was possible only within a part of night; the events witnessed by Hazrat Muhammad (saw) during the ‘meraj travel’, would take thousands of years to take place according to earth time.

As we mentioned above, time and space are considered as a twin and interdependent phenomenon. Time is defined as a distance between two points in space. Simply speaking, if a person moves from point A to point B, the space travelled/ covered between points A and B is called Time to reach from A to B. in other words, if space between A and B is expanded, the time to reach from A to B will be expanded; and if the space between A and B is contracted/condensed, time to reach from A to B will be shortened. It means same event (in this case moving from A to B) will require more (expanded) time to happen, if space is expanded; as that event will require lesser time to happen, if space is condensed/ contracted.

According to Sura ma,arij-3-4 and 6-7, events happen quicker as we move from 1st sky to upper skies; it means space starts contracting/ condensing, as we move from 1st sky to upper skies. In other words, space starts expanding as we move from upper skies to 1st skies. It means both time and space contract as we move from 1st sky to upper skies; and both time and space expand as we move from upper skies to 1st sky.

It is just like when a stone is thrown in the center of a water pond, the waves produced start moving away from the center; the waves near the center of pond are narrow in width as compared to those waves which are away from the center of pond. Similarly it seems as if process of creation of seven skies/ BIG BANG started from the location near to seventh sky; that is why space and (resultantly) time in the seventh sky exist in condensed form, and in expanded form in the 1st sky.

In other words, we can say both Space and Time exist in pairs. One type of Time exists in expanded form which is paired with type of Time which exists in condensed/contracted form; similarly one type of space exists in expanded form which is paired with type of space which exists in contracted form.
It is not necessary that space is uniformly distributed throughout a sky; it may happen that in a sky space is more expanded at some places and more contracted at some other places. In other words, space and time have various forms/degrees of expansion and contraction not only in different skies but also in the same sky. It means in the same sky, events may occur comparatively quicker at some places, and comparatively slower at some other places. This fact may be substantiated on the basis of Hazrat Uzair’s story mentioned in Quran.

Sura baqra-259 states: “ Or [consider such an example] as the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, "How will Allah bring this to life after its death?" So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. He said, "How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day." He said, "Rather, you have remained one hundred years. Look at your food and your drink; it has not changed with time. And look at your donkey; and We will make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones [of this donkey] - how We raise them and then We cover them with flesh." And when it became clear to him, he said, "I know that Allah is over all things competent."

From this verse, it is clear that two different degrees of expansion/ or contraction of space were present at the place where that incident took place; the space in which Hazrat Uzair and his food were placed was relatively more expanded; that is why his body and food remained intact and were not degenerated; the place where the donkey was placed was relatively lesser expanded/ or more contracted; that is why donkey’s body was degenerated.

Einstein also supported this idea of various densities of space. To him much bigger celestial bodies in the heavens cause curve in the space; obviously when space will be curved, it will be relatively condensed/contracted, which will, in turn, cause contraction of time. In this way, where space is curved, events will happen quicker; in the present case, donkey may be placed in such a space which was relatively contracted/ curved; that is why donkey’s body was degenerated. Similarly where space is relatively expanded, events will happen relatively slower; Hazrat Uzair’s body and his food may be placed in the space which was relatively expanded; that is why both of them were not degenerated.

We may conclude from this discussion that both time and space exist in pairs, as all other created things exist in pairs.


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Posted by arif mian

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replied to:  arifmian786
AbdulKalam
Replied to:  Second Rise of Islam Thursday, 1 December 2011 Time and...
Ya everything is in pairs. . . But what about bacteria and viruses?
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replied to:  AbdulKalam
maddiez
Replied to:  Ya everything is in pairs. . . But what about bacteria...
OK HI MY NAME IS JOE AND I WORK IN A BUTTER FACTORY!!!
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replied to:  arifmian786
maddiez
Replied to:  Second Rise of Islam Thursday, 1 December 2011 Time and...
HIYA!!
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replied to:  AbdulKalam
maddiez
Replied to:  Ya everything is in pairs. . . But what about bacteria...
IS THIS ABOUT SCIENCE??
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replied to:  arifmian786
dafrosty
Replied to:  Second Rise of Islam Thursday, 1 December 2011 Time and...
This is a good read, although i think the Hazrat Uzair and his donkey might have had other sciences at work.

I noticed verses from the Quran that discuss the creation of the universe mentioned periods of 'days'. We know now that the length of a 'day' varies on different celestial bodies based on their speed and angle of rotation within orbit, affected by gravity from their surrounding objects in space to various degrees, and also through the different structures of the objects themselves etc.


Say, "Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds." [Fussilat, 41:9]

And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures'] sustenance in four days without distinction - for [the information] of those who ask. [Fussilat, 41:10]


How long would a 'day' be in terms of the creation of the universe? A few billion years through time and space must be passing by for only a few 'days' for the Ceator who resides above all of it.

I believe we are exponentially expanding our understanding in different fields that nature works in a multi-dimensional space, which means studying it and manipulating it in 2-dimensions of representation and documentation would not be sufficient for appreciation nor understanding.

Recently the 'junk DNA' portion of our whole DNA strand has been found to be merely switches for genes, something like a binary coding system, but much more complex as it operates within a 3-dimensional space as far as recent researches has discovered. It means that not only the switches and genes interact in a double helix linear strand, they also interact with each other within a complex structure of overlapping strands and switches within a 3-dimensional sphere-like design.

I would like to imagine the universe working in this form too, as George Smoot pointed out the design of the universe by highlighting concentrations of dark matter, forming shapes not too different from the form of living organic cells under a microscope. Subhanallah.

That's what we have now based on space. Now given this perspective, I wonder what else we can discover with Time.

On an interesting note, I noticed the formation of celestial bodies through the spark of gravitational forces acting upon particles in space, was described in the following verse right after the two above:


Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly." [Fussilat, 41:11]


Have any of these been discussed here before? I would like expand/share knowledge here.thanks :)
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