It has been shown by the existing physical laws and scientific research that our Lord created matter moment by moment. The flawlessness, perfect balance and detailed arrangements in the creation of the universe are one of the proofs of our Lord’s omniscience and matchless Creation.
The Big Bang theory clearly reveals that Allah created the universe from nothing. This great explosion is full of fine calculations and is so detailed that it causes one to reflect that it cannot be explained as a matter of pure chance.
The temperature at every moment of the explosion, the number of atomic particles, the forces enetering into operation at that moment and the intensities of those forces need to possess highly sensitive values. Failure to achieve even one of those values would mean the universe we inhabit today could not have come into being. A change in any one of these values - even at a level approaching mathematical “0” - would be sufficient for the Big Bang to have never happened at all.
In the Wake of the Big Bang.
The universe and its building blocks, atoms, began coming into being from nothing in the wake of this great explosion thanks to the balances created by Allah. Scientists have carried out unlimited research into the perfect timing of the events that took place during this and the nature of the physical laws involved in that timing. The facts agreed on by all the scientists who have studied the subject are these:
→ "0" moment; This “moment” when there was no matter and time, and when this explosion took place is regarded in physics as the moment when t (time) = 0. In other words, when t=0, nothing exists. In order to describe what preceeded this “moment” when creation began, we need to know the laws of physics existing at that moment because the laws of physics that exist now do not apply in the first moments of the explosion.
Events that physics can describe begin as of 10-43 seconds, the smallest unit of time; this is too small for the human mind to conceive. So what happened in this brief space of time we cannot even imagine? Physicists have so far been unable to produce a theory that can explain all the details of the events that occurred because scientists lack the materials with which to perform calculations. Descriptions of the laws of mathematics and physics are impacted at this threshold. In other words, both the time before this explosion built on the most delicate of balances and its initial moments possess a creation that surpasses human understanding.
This creation that began when there was no time allowed for the moment by moment appearance of the material universe and the laws of physics. Let us now have a look at the events that occurred with great sensitivity in a very short space of time in this explosion:
At this moment of creation, the temperature was 1032 (100,000,000,000,000,000.-000,000,000,000,000) K. To make a comparison, the heat of the Sun is expressed in millions (108) and that of stars far larger than the Sun in billions (1011). The highest temperatures we have been able to detect so far is limited to billions of degrees, although it is possible to give an idea of how great the temperature was at moment 10-43.
→ When time moved forward from 10-43 seconds to 10-37: The period between these points is not a moment like one or two seconds. We are speaking of one quadrillion- quadrillionth of a second. The temperature was again at the extraordinary level of 1029 (100,000,000,-000,000,000,000,000,000,000) K. Atoms had not yet been created.
→ Up to 10-2 seconds: This time frame expresses one hundredth of a second. The temperature at this point is 100 billion degrees. The “first universe” began being shaped at this point. There were still no particles such as protons and neutrons that constitute the nucleus of the atom. All there at that moment were electrons and their opposites, positrons (anti-electrons) because the temperature and velocity of the universe at that moment permitted these particles to form. Electrons and positrons came into being in less than one second since the explosion began.
The question of at which moment every atomic particle will form after this moment is very important because every particle needs to appear at a special moment in order for the present laws of physics to emerge. The question of which particle will form first is vitally important. The slightest deviation in this sequence or timing would make it impossible for the universe to exist in its present form.
→ After 10-1 seconds: The temperature at this point is around 30 billion degrees. Still less than a second has passed since t=0. However, the other components of the atom, protons and neutrons, have begun to appear. Neutrons and protons were created in a shorter space of time than has gone by since nothing.
→ The 1st second after the explosion: When we look at the density of the mass at this time we again encounter an huge and extraordinary figure; it is calculated that the density of the mass existing at this moment is 3.8 billion kilograms a liter. It is easy to determine this figure expressed as billions of kgs mathematically and to put it down on paper. However, it is still impossible to fully conceive this value. To give a simple example to make it easier to express the size of this figure, we may say that, "If the tip of Mount Everest in the Himalayas had that density, the force of gravity it would acquire could swallow our world up in a moment.”
→ Between 1 and 3 seconds: The main distinguishing feature of this period is that temperature is now at quite a low value. The universe is now around 14 seconds old, with a temperature of 3 billion degrees, and is continuing to expand at an enormous speed.
This is when atomic nuclei such as hydrogen and helium begin to form. In other words, for the first time, there was an environment in which a proton and neutron could stand side by side. These two particles with masses between existing and non-existing set up an extraordinary gravitational force and began opposing that vast velocity of expansion. The process is clearly a conscious and controlled one. A great balance and an extraordinarily sensitive order forms after an inconceivable explosion. Protons and neutrons began to come together and form the atom, the building block of matter. Yet it is of coure impossible for these particles to possess the power and consciousness with which to estsblish the sensitive balances required in order to give rise to matter.
In the period that followed this, the temperature of the universe dropped to one billion degrees. That is still 60 times the temperature of our Sun. Three minutes and two seconds have now passed since the outset. Subatomic particles such as the proton, anti-proton, neutrino and anti-neutrino are now in the majority. The number of, and interactions between, all the particles existing in this period is critical; the slightest variation in the number of any particle will compromise the energy levels determined by them and prevent the conversion of energy into matter. The number of particles emerging after the Big Bang has been determined with fine calculations, and the material universe was able to form as a result. Prof. Steven Weinberg emphasizes the critical nature of the interaction between these particles as follows:
If the universe in the first few minutes was really composed of precisely equal numbers of particles and antiparticles, they would all have annihilated as the temperature dropped below 1,000 million degrees, and nothing would be left but radiation. There is a very good evidence against this possibility – we are here! There must have been some excess of electrons over positrons, of protons over antiprotons, and of neutrons over antineutrons, in order that there would be something left over after the annihilation of particles and antiparticles to furnish the matter of the present universe (Steven Weinberg, The First Three Minutes, A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe, Basic Books, June 1993, p.87)
→ The first 34 minutes 40 seconds: Our universe is now half an hour old. The temperarures have dropped by billions of degrees. Electrons and positrons continue to produce energy by colliding. The number of particles that will give rise to atoms is now balanced in such a way as to permit the formation of the material universe. The rate of expansion has decreased relatively, and these particles with almost no mass have begun interacting with one another. The first hydrogen atom forms when an electron enters into the orbit of a proton. In this way, we have become acquainted with all the fundamental forces we see in the universe.
The Creator of All Who Regulates and Controls the Universe Is Almighty Allah
Creation can be seen, not only in the atom, but in all bodies small and large in the universe. These particles that broke away from one another at the speed of light at the beginning did not stop at producing hydrogen atoms. They also gave rise to all the glorious systems contained within the universe, other atoms, molecules, planets, suns, solar systems, galaxies, quasars etc., within a glorious plan, with measure and balance, one after the other. While it is impossible for the particles needing to combine together to form a single atom and set up delicate balances did so by chance, it is totally irrational and illogical to claim that planets and galaxies, in short all the systems that permit the functioning in the universe, came about one by one by chance. This matchless design belongs to Allah, Creator of all the universe. Stephen Hawking explains that these events are built on far more delicate balances that we can understand:
“If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size” (Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p.9)
The Big Bang based on such fine calculations clearly reveals that time, space and matter did not come into being spontaneously, and that everything was created by Allah. This is indicated in a verse:
“He has made night and day subservient to you, and the sun and moon and stars, all subject to His command. There are certainly Signs in that for people who use their intellect.” (Surat an-Nahl, 12)
An order, the immutable laws we refer to as the “laws of physics,” emerged in the wake of a huge explosion, from which great disorder and irregularity might normally be expected. This proves that every moment of the creation of the universe, including the Big Bang, possesses a flawless order.
