In the universe, the bigger the star the faster it burns. If the Sun, which warms us and provides us with food and life, were ten times bigger than its current size, it would burn itself out not in ten billion years but ten million years after it was formed, and we would not be here right now. If we were at an orbit closer to the Sun, everything on the Earth would evaporate and disappear. If it were a further orbit, everywhere would be covered with ice under those conditions.
The Sun is at just the right size to provide for life onEarth and at just the right distance to Earth.
If the Earth were only 1% further away from the Sun, or only 5% closer to the Sun, it would become an uninhabitable planet. These so-called percentages are actually very small distance units when the huge numbers of the universe are taken into account. In order to understand this, we could give Venus as an example. The Sun’s heat reaches Venus, which is the planetjust before the Earth, two minutes ahead of us. In terms of size and structure, Venus is quite similar to the Earth, but a small difference in orbital distance is the cause of the “life” difference between these two planets. As a result of this two-minute difference, Venus’ surface temperature reaches up to 470oC. This temperature is high enough to even melt lead. The atmospheric pressure on the surface is 90 times than that of the Earth. Under such enormous pressure, human life is not possible. (Short History of Almost Everything, Bill Bryson, Boyner Publications, 2003, pp. 216–217)
Of course, Allah could have created life on every planet in space. However, Allah only created life on the Earth. For this, He made countless factors dependent on delicate balances. A discrepancy in only one of these balances is enough to end life on Earth. Life on Earth, the flawless balance it has, and the causes these all depend on are all under the control of Allah Who created them. Like everything that is created, the Earth we live on also has the matchless art of Almighty Allah.
“It is He Who splits the sky at dawn, and appoints the night as a time of stillness and the sun and moon as a means of reckoning. That is what the Almighty, the All-Knowing has ordained." (Surat Al-An‘am, 96)
