Reasons For Swearing By The Positions of The Stars
Selections from the Book The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him …
Written by Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi...
Episode (44)
Due to the vast distances that separate the stars in the sky from us, it is impossible to see the stars from the surface of the Earth by any physical means. All we see from the stars in the sky are the positions they have passed through and then left, either by moving through cosmic space at astonishing speeds, by exploding and fading away, or by refracting and being obscured.
The sun—which is the closest star to us—is located about one hundred and fifty million kilometers away. When light emanates from it at a speed of approximately three hundred thousand kilometers per second from a specific position it has passed, and considering that the sun is moving at a speed of about 19 kilometers per second towards the star Vega, the light takes roughly eight minutes and a third of a minute to reach the Earth. Meanwhile, as the sun travels at this speed, it has moved a distance of no less than ten thousand kilometers from the point where the light originated. Therefore, we see its light only as a phantom image of the position from which the light we observed came.
The positions of the stars change from moment to moment at speeds proportional to how fast the star moves in its orbit and the rates at which the universe is expanding and the galaxies are moving away from us. Some of these galaxies move at speeds approaching three-quarters the speed of light. The light from the farthest stars in our galaxy takes eighty thousand years to reach us from the moment it is emitted, while light from some distant stars may take billions of years to arrive. These vast distances continue to increase over time due to the ongoing separation of galaxies as the universe expands. Among the stars twinkling in the night sky, there are some that have scientifically been confirmed to have exploded and faded away or been obscured and disappeared millions of years ago; the last ray emitted from them before their explosion or obscuration had not yet reached us. Thus, the light we receive from them may represent a past that could be millions of years old.
It has been scientifically established that light, like matter, bends as it passes through a gravitational field, such as that of the universe. Consequently, light waves move in the lower sky along curved paths. When the light emitted from a star bends on its way to Earth, an observer on Earth sees a position of the star that aligns with their line of sight, which is different from the actual position from which the light originated. This again confirms that a person on the surface of the Earth cannot see the stars at all.
The stars within a single galaxy are mutually linked by the gravitational forces between them, which govern their positions and masses. While we acknowledge that Allah is The One who keeps the heavens and the earth from moving, as He stated: {Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease. And if they should cease, no one could hold them [in place] after Him. Indeed, He is Forbearing and Forgiving.} [Fatir: 41]. Our Lord also says: {And He restrains the sky from falling upon the earth,} [Al-Hajj: 65] However, Allah has His laws through which He realizes His will, and He is capable of saying {"Be" and it is}. He has established these gradual laws in the universe so that humans can understand them and utilize them in fulfilling their duty of stewardship on earth. The positions of the stars are directly proportional to their masses and are closely linked to the gravitational forces that hold them in those positions, ensuring that the heavens do not fall upon the earth except by Allah's permission. Hence, the significance of the positions of the stars is reflected in this great Quranic oath.
Studies in astronomy and both astrophysics and theoretical physics have proven that time and space are continuous entities. From this perspective, the vast locations of the stars reflect their ancient ages, confirming that the universe we live in is not eternal, as it had a beginning that researchers estimate to be at least twelve billion years ago. Thus, the oath by the locations of the stars indicates the antiquity of the universe in its occurrence, and these are truths that acquired science only reached by the end of the twentieth century.
So glory be to Allah, The All-Knowing, The Wise, who said in His clear Book: {Then I swear by the setting of the stars, (75) And indeed, it is an oath - if you could know - [most] great. (76) Indeed, it is a noble Qur’ān. (77) In a Register well-protected; (78) None touch it except the purified [i.e., the angels]. (79) [It is] a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. (80)} [Al-Waqi'ah: 75-80].
- Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him, pp. 293-296.
- The Eternal Miracle, Al-Salabi, p. 76.
- From the verses of scientific miracles in the sky, Al-Najjar, previous reference, p. 206-207.
For further information and review of the sources for the article, see:
The Book of The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him on the official website of Sheikh Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi:
