Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 313
THE QURAN AND COSMOLOGY describes the entire cycle of the beginning, the end and the return again to a similar beginning. The first step of creation as related in the Quran accurately describes the event of the Big Bang in the following words: أولَمْ يَرَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا اَنْ السَّمَوَات وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاء كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَيْ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ 21:31. Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were a closed-up mass (ratqan), then We clove them asunder (fataqnā)? And We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe??. It is significant that this verse is specifically addressed to non-believers, implying perhaps, that the unveiling of the secret mentioned in this verse would be made by the nonbelievers, a sign for them of the truth of the Quran. . In this verse the words ratqan (closed-up mass), and fataqna (We clove them asunder), carry the basic message of the whole verse. Authentic Arabic lexicons³ give two meanings of ratgan, that have great relevance to the topic under discussion. One meaning is 'the coming together of something and the consequent infusion into a single entity' and the second meaning is 'total darkness'. Both these meanings are significantly applicable. Taken together, they offer an apt description of the singularity of a black hole. . A. BLACK HOLE is a gravitationally collapsed mass of colossal size. It begins with the collapse of such massive stars as are 15 or more times the size of the sun. The immensity of their inward gravitational pull causes the stars to collapse into a much smaller size. The gravitational pull is further concentrated and results in the further collapse of the entire mass into a supernova. At this stage the basic bricks of matter such as molecules, atoms 304