Fazl-e-Umar — Page 284
Fazle Umar 284 whatever living creatures He has spread forth in both. And He has the power to gather them together whenever He pleases. ” (Ch. 42:V. 30) The verse embodies a unique testimony to the Divine origin of the Qur’an. It was not possible for any human being, much less for an unlettered son of the desert, to say, as far back as 1,400 years ago, when the science of astronomy was yet in its infancy, that apart from our planet, life in some form or other existed in heavenly bodies. It was reserved for the Qur’an to disclose this great and marvellous scientific truth as the words of this verse, viz. , “Whatever living creatures He has spread forth in both,” show. Indeed the creation of the heavens and the earth and what living creatures exist in them and the wonderful order that pervades the whole universe constitute an infallible testimony to the knowledge and power of Almighty God Who has revealed the Qur’an and Who would bring together the creatures of the heavens and the earth whenever in His infallible wisdom He would deem fit. The reference in the last sentence of the verse may be to the possibility of the creatures living on earth and in heavenly bodies becoming united at some future time. Only a few examples have been mentioned above along with the commentary of Hadhrat Musleh Mau’ood [ra]. However, there are many, many others. R I SE OF A T H E I SM A n d P H I L O S OP H y In the contemporary age a lack of interest in religion is connected with the progress that science and philosophy have made in our time. Copernicus and Galileo proved that the whole universe was not revolving around the earth as accepted by the Church. Doubts began to creep in soon after man was set on the path of discovering new realities of nature after the Renaissance. However, in the new era observations were made that were in glaring contrast to the observations made by the Bible. Dar- winism, Mendel’s genetics, progress in physics, archaeology and astronomy all raised