THE SUN AND THE MOON
سورة يونس آية 5
It is He who made the sun radiance
and the moon a light. (Chapter 10- verse 5)
سورة النبأ آية 13
And we appointed a blazing lamp.
(Chapter 78- verse 13)
سورة نوح آية 16
And set the moon therein for a light
and the sun for a lamp.
(Chapter 71- verse 16)
سورة الفرقان آية 61
Blessed be He
who has set in heaven constellations, and has set
among them a lamp, and
an illuminating moon.
(Chapter 25-verse 61)
The sun is "the only self-luminous body in the entire Solar System. Moonlight results from the reflection of the sunlight back to space by the surface of the moon.”[24]
The sun is compared to a lamp because it illuminates and heats the earth. Solar radiation decreases gradually on entering the earth's atmosphere because of "the scattering of light, or the scattering by air particles and other small ones floating in the air, and the absorption by the atomic oxygen in high altitudes and by the ozone gas, which is found at altitudes ranging from 15 to 45 kilometers.” [25]
But if we go through the earth's atmosphere up to the universal space, we will find it dark in spite of the sun's "appearance in one of the sky's corners.” That is to say the universal space is dark while half the earth is illuminated. This beautiful and awe-inspiring image reflects what is pictured in The Holy Qur’an. It pictures the day as if it is snatched from the night. In (Chapter 36 -verses 37- 38) God says:
سورة يس الآيات 37-38
And a sign for them is the night; We strip it of the
day and lo, they are in darkness.
And the sun- it runs to a fixed resting -place;
that is the ordaining of the All- mighty, the All-knowing.
سورة الاسراء آية 12
We have appointed the night and the day
as two signs’ then We have blotted out
the sign of the night, and made the sign
of the day to see, and that you may seek
bounty from your Lord, and that you may know
the number of the years and the reckoning;
and everything We have distinguished very distinctly.
سورة يس آية 40
It behoves not the sun to overtake the moon; neither
does the night outstrip the day,
each swimming in a sky.
The sun and the other members of the solar system must have an appointed time to cease. Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book says:
The sun is a star that is roughly 4 ½ billion years old according to experts in astrophysics. It is possible to distinguish a stage in its evolution, as one can for all the stars. At present, the sun is at an early stage, characterized by the transformation of hydrogen atoms into helium atoms. Theoretically, this present stage should last another 5½ billion years according to calculations that allow a total of 10 billion years for the duration of the primary stage in a star of this kind.
It has already bean shown, in the case of these other stars, that this stage gives way to a second period characterized by the completion of the transformation of hydrogen into helium, with the resulting expansion of its external layers and the cooling of the sun. In the final stage, its light is greatly diminished and density considerably increased; this is to be observed in the type of stars known as a "white dwarf." [27]
He goes on adding,
…… the violent implosion of certain stars has been observed so that they become veritable “corpses”
In chapter 31 verse 29 God states this scientific theory in a very simple way:
سورة لقمان
Hast thou not seen how that God makes the night to enter into the day
and makes the day to enter into the night
and He has subjected the sun and the moon each of them running
to a stated term,
and that God is aware of what you do
And in chapter 35 verse (13) God says:
He makes the night to enter into the day
and makes the day to enter into the night
and He has subjected the sun and the moon , each of them running
to a stated term.
That is God your Lord; to Him belongs the Kingdom;
and these you call upon , apart from Him, possess
Not so much as the skin of a date – stone.
To the infinity of the universe, God says:
سورة الواقعة الآيات 75 – 78
No! I swear by the falling of stars [28]
(and this is indeed a mighty oath, did
you but know it)
it is surely a noble Qur’an
in a hidden book
(chapter 56 verses 75-78)
In order to know the power of this oath we have to know something about the immensely vast universe with its galaxies and stars. Dr. Mahgary [29] says that there are billions of galaxies and in each galaxy billions of stars. In our galaxy there are 500 billion stars.
All these billions of stars move in a fixed system and in an assigned orbit around the center of the galaxy. They move with different speeds, which increase as they approach the center of the galaxy. Dr. El Mahgary adds that in spite of this great number of stars it is very rare that a star collides with another.
To what extend is this oath a great one, one must refer also to the unimaginable distances between galaxies. Dr. M. Hassab El Naby, in his book "The Glorious Qur’an and Modern Science”, says that “The diameter of ‘our’ galaxy may span 100,000 light years.” If this is the case with one galaxy, so what could be the distance of the whole universe, when we know that it includes billions of galaxies!!!
He says in the same book that “the 200 – inch mirror telescope at Mount Palomar can now photograph countless galaxies (islands of stars) lying beyond a distance of 300 million light years!”
No wonder, therefore that God Almighty swears by the location or the sites of stars, that The Holy Qur’an is but His Noble Book.
The order of the universe is always in flawless motion. The birth and death of stars occupy quite a large part in The Holy Qur’an. God swears by the falling star, in order to prove that prophet Mohammed “is not astray, neither errs.” Now in the (21st we, have come to know the extent of this oath and how mighty it is.
God also swears by the falling of stars that prophet Mohammed did not err..
سورة النجم الآيات 1 – 5
By the star when it plunges,
your comrade is not astray, neither errs,
nor speaks he out of caprice.
This is naught but a revelation revealed,
taught him by one terrible in power,
very strong; (chapter 53 – 1 –5)
He also swears by the heaven and the “piercing star”, and when God swears by something it should be as great and as important as the oath itself:
سورة الطارق الآيات 1-4
By heaven and the night-star![30]
And what shall teach thee what is the night-star?
The piercing star!
Over every soul there is a watcher.
Chapter 86 (1-4)
We have to deal with these two verses together as they denote the same natural phenomenon i.e. the death of stars.
The primary elements in a star like our sun, or even bigger are hydrogen and helium. When the hydrogen expires it indicates that the big star is passing from the stage of youth to old age. In order to die, this big star passes through different stages: A Red Giant, a White Dwarf, a Neutron star, then in the final stage it becomes a Black Hole in the dark sky.
The falling star is but a Red giant that collapses on itself. Dr. M. H. El Naby in his book “The Glorious Qur’an and Modern Science”, says that the red giant stage of our sun will appear as God describes in chapter 55 verses 36 – 37.
O which of your Lord’s bounties will you and you deny?
And when heaven is split asunder,
and turns crimson like red leather
He goes on, to say:
Here the red color may point to the red giant’s hot surface which will raise the temperature of the earth to about 4000 C causing seas to boil, explode and evaporate. Moreover the water vapor may be analyzed into hydrogen and oxygen, causing fire due to rapid ignition of hydrogen-oxygen mixture! This may explain the following verses:
سورة الإنفطار الآيات 1-3
When heaven is split open,
when the stars are scattered,
when the seas swarm over, (exploded)
chapter 82 (verses 1-3)
when the seas shall be set boiling
Chapter 81 verse 6
A Red Giant is a large Red Star at least ten times the diameters of the sun. Stars like the sun when they grow old swell up into Red giants.
When the nuclear reaction in the center of the star stops, with the formation of iron, the source of energy disappears. Then the balance of the matter inside the star becomes imbalanced and the star contracts and shrinks under the power of its gravity, and its diameter becomes a few thousand kilometers, whereas it previously measured billions of kilometers. Consequently its density increases greatly and it dwindles and becomes a White Dwarf.
During the quick shrinking process, the White Star’s power of movement is transformed into energy. So, its temperature increases and becomes one hundred thousand (absolute degree). The star starts to radiate white faint beams until its energy and its temperature drop gradually. Then it contracts greatly until it becomes a Neutron star whose diameter does not exceed twenty kilometers. Its density is unbelievably great to the extent that a neutron ball as big as a football weights fifty thousand billion tons.
Dr. El. Mahgary goes on to say that the first Neutron star was discovered in 1968, when an American student was able to register radio signals from outer space, by a radio telescope, which was capable of registering radio signals from huge distances. In the seventies astronomers were able to register several stars that send regular radio signals in the form of “Peep, Peep, Peep. “ They called them “Pulsars”, but later discovered that they were but Neutron Stars. Pulsars spin rapidly and every time they spin, give out rapid flashes of radiation like lighthouse beams. Do you not agree with me that these “pulsars” beat the vacuum with their “Peep, Peep, Peep”?
Neutron stars also dwindle and contract into Black Holes in the dark sky. Its gravity becomes immensely great to the extent that nothing can escape from it not even light.
Dr.El. Mahgary compares finding a Black Hole in the dark sky to trying to find a black cat in a pitch black room. No one can find it unless it mews.
He goes on to say, that the first thread that led scientists to find Black Holes were screams for help which energy releases on approaching a Black Hole. When energy comes closer to a Black Hole its temperature increases greatly and its cries reach us in the form of X-rays. We can see that Black Holes pierce the vacuum and our atmosphere with X-rays. The second thread that leads us to Black Holes is their immense gravity. Naturally they affect, nearby bodies. So astronomers registered several stars rotating around something which could not be seen and which they could identify as Black Holes.
Dr. Mansour Hassab El Naby in his book “The Glorious Qur’an and Modern Science” says that Black Holes are “a case of complete gravitational collapse”.
God swears in chapter 81 verse 15 by the running sweepers:
سورة التكوير الآية 15
No! I swear by the slinkers[31]
The runners, the sinkers [32]
God here compares Black Holes to the “running sweepers” i.e. they sweep the space within their gravitational range. ”They are actually cosmic vacuum cleaners” as called in astrophysics.”
According to The Holy Qur’an and science the inhabitants of the earth will witness only the first stage in the death of our sun i.e. the Red Giant stage. This is because it will expand, as mentioned before, that it will reach our moon and devour it. Hence its extremely hot temperature will reach our earth making any kind of life impossible.
The cracking of the moon is scientifically expected "in the far future. The tidal forces between the earth and the moon play an important role in the earth-moon system. If the moon approaches the earth, under certain expected conditions, then the difference in gravitation on both sides of the moon can be sufficient to cleave or crack it." [33]
سورة القمر آية 1، 2
In chapter 54 verse 1&2 God says:
The Hour has drawn nigh: the moon is split
yet if they see a sign they turn away, and they say
‘A continuous sorcery!’
The sun is the central body in the solar system and it controls the motion of all the bodies in the system. The solar system maintains its common features as long as the sun "remains in equilibrium and does not explode." [34]
Dr. El - Fandy goes on adding:
Astronomically speaking, the earth and the solar system are not
eternal. The whole matter will come to an end when the sun
suddenly expands or explodes such that its outer
atmosphere ( * 6,000 degrees absolute) fills the whole space
extending up to the orbit of the earth and its moon.
Such phenomenon is observed taking place in heavens. [35]
When the sun catches the moon, the earth's temperature will exceed 100° C, a matter that makes life on earth impossible. In chapter 75 verses 6-10 God informs us about doomsday. He says:
سورة القيامة الآيات 6 – 10
Asking, "when shall be the Day of resurrection?"
But when the sight is dazed
and the moon is eclipsed,
and the sun and the moon are brought together,
upon that day man shall say, "whither to flee?"
No indeed: not a refuge!
Dr. Mansour Hassab El Naby in his book “The Glorious Qur’an and Modern Science”, says apart from the sun the moon undoubtfully influences the earth:
As water ebbs and flows in the shallow seas, it drags against the sea floor. The ocean bulges lying on either side of the Earth act as a pair of huge brake shoes on the rotating solid planet beneath.
He goes on to say that this effect is so slow to the extent that the day on earth 4500 million years ago was only four hours!! But now due to the tidal effect, it has become 24 hours.
On the other hand the moon itself will be greatly affected by the earth’s gravitation. He says:
The tidal force plays an important part in the Earth – Moon system. As the Earth rotates, friction between the seabeds and the water in them not only slows it down, but also pulls the tidal bulges slightly ahead of the Earth-Moon line. As a result, the Moon feels a slight extra tug in a forward direction from the gravitation of the displaced tidal bulges, which results in a gradual increase in its orbit, it is very slowly spiraling away from us! The rate is again small,… Thus the energy lost by the rotating Earth is transferred to the moon’s orbital energy. The day and the lunar month are thereby lengthening at different rates and the state of affairs in the remote past and in the remote future has been recently calculated giving information that the moon will approach the Earth in the future so that the difference of gravitation on both sides of the moon will be sufficient to cleve it asunder!
It is true that according to scientific calculation the cleavage of the moon will take place in the remote future yet, "other factors, such as a probable change in the universal gravitation, may reinforce and accelerate its occurrence”. This is a sign of the approach of “The HOUR” “and a pre-incident of the total disruption of the whole Universe!”
Dr. M. Hassab El Naby in his book "The Universe, and Scientific Miracles in the Qur’an" says that practical scientific news is not encouraging. Scientists nowadays examine a riddle called neutrino. This neutrino implies that the sun has stopped its nuclear reaction. As a result neutrino in the expected quantity, which results from nuclear fusion inside the sun, does not reach us. The writer wonders whether the sun has stopped its nuclear reaction as a step towards stellar evolution before becoming a Red Giant? Or, is the sun passing – at the present time – through a very dusty area which when colliding with the sun’s surface raises its temperature? That could be why it has stopped, temporarily its nuclear reaction. No one knows the secret of that riddle. What unravels this riddle is what he writes in his book "The Glorious Qur’an and Modern Science”.
Some astronomers such as John Brandt in his book "New Horizons in Astronomy " (1972) says that humanity must prepare enough space-ships before the Red Giant stage of the sun is reached, to enable all the people to escape from the earth to another planet that is far away from the sun!!
What modern scientists here have acknowledged reminds me of the verse in The Holy Qur’an
Asking “when shall be the Day of Resurrection?”
But when the sight is dazed
and the moon is eclipsed,
and the sun and the moon are brought together,
upon that day man shall say,” whether to flee”?
No indeed not a refuge!
[24] "Islam and Science "book -VI
[25] "Cosmic Verses in The Qur'an" by Dr. M.J. El-Fandy
[26] "Cosmic Verses in The Qur'an" by Dr. M.J. El-Fandy
[27] “The Bible, the Qur’an and Science”, by Dr. Maurice Bucaille.
[28] The translation is totally wrong (مواقع النجوم ()) means location, position or sites of stars.
[29] “Qur’anic Verses in the Light of Science “ by Dr. Yehya Said El Mahgary.
[30] الطارق means knocking or beating – pulsating
[31] Hidden or concealed.
[32] the correct translation in this verse is “the running sweepers” the verb “يكنس” means to sweep
[33] “Islam and Science”, book VI
[34] “Islam and Science”, book VI
[35] “Islam and Science”, book VI
* N.B. Inside the sun the temperature exceeds 20 million degrees!!
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