Time: The New Physics and The Qur’an

By T.O. Shanavas, New Age Islam 27 December 2023 Human Beings Since The Beginning Of Civilization Have Pondered The Concept Of Time. The Unyielding Irreversibility Of The Passage Of Time Is Borne In Human Beings By The Certainty Of Death. Unlike Other Life Forms, We Know That Our Life Could End At Any Moment, And Even If We Attain All Our Earthly Expectations, Our Success Is Inevitably Followed By Eventual Decay And Death… ------ This enquiry focuses on the key role of time in reconciling the scientific theories regarding the universe and life with religious beliefs about divine creation. It suggests that a thorough exploration of the nature and characteristics of time could provide insights into how the gradual process of evolution of life and the narrative of divine creation might coexist or be understood in relation to each other. Time can be a bridging concept between the scientific and religious narratives of the time-lapsed origin and evolution of the universe and life. Human beings since the beginning of civilization have pondered the concept of time. The unyielding irreversibility of the passage of time is borne in human beings by the certainty of death. Unlike other life forms, we know that our life could end at any moment, and even if we attain all our earthly expectations, our success is inevitably followed by eventual decay and death. The notion of time in ancient civilizations was much different from that of today. People did not perceive time as a linear continuum that stretches into a continuous future. They pictured it as cyclical in nature and therefore believed that historical events also followed a cyclical pattern. Greek philosophers, including the Orphics, Pythagoreans, and Plato, held the view that people are reborn in the flow of time. They taught that our perception of one lifetime per human being is an illusion due to the loss of memory about past lives upon rebirth. Greek philosophers, such as Pythagoras and Empedocles, were said to be able to recollect their previous lives. Buddha also recollected all his previous lives. Hindus believe that people repeat cycles of birth and death until they break the succession through their vigorous ascetic performance. On observing repetitive earthly phenomena such as rotation of day and night or the four seasons, the ancients inferred that time and everything else, including human birth and death, is also cyclic. Pre-Islamic Arab pagans considered time a deity (ad-dahr) that exists from eternity to eternity and dispenses good and ill fortune to humankind. The monotheistic religions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--led the way to the concept of linear time. The chronology in the Jewish and Christian scriptures implies that the universe was created in 4,004 BC.1 The Muslim scripture does not reveal a specific time for its creation, even though Westerners hold that the Muslims also believe in a young universe. For example, Professor Stephen W. Hawking, one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century--hailed as an “equal of Einstein” by Time magazine--states: “According to a number of early cosmologies and the Jewish/Christian/Muslim tradition, the universe started at a finite and not very distant time in the past.”2 Hawking accurately reads the three monotheistic religions when he declares that the universe was created at a finite time, but he errs in assuming that the Muslim estimation of the age of the universe is the same as that held by the Jewish and Christian traditions. Muslims believe that the universe was created in a finite distant past, but they also believe that it will be destroyed sometime in the future. The agreement among the three monotheistic religions on the concept of resurrection, whereby humans live from eternity to eternity, is based on a linear rather than a cyclical chronology. The invention of the clock in the thirteenth century reinforced the notion of linear time. Since then, time has been broken down into units of hours, minutes, and seconds, and conceived of as something that progresses from the past to the future. Measuring time affected the lives of people of all faiths. For example, during the fourteenth century, workers in the cities set up specific times for the beginning and the close of a workday. Isaac Newton believed that he knew what time was. At the beginning of his Principia Mathematica, he wrote: Absolute, true and mathematical time, of itself, and from its nature, flows equably without relation to anything external.”3This was the dominant belief among scientists until the twentieth century. Today we know that Newton was mistaken on several grounds. Time is not absolute or universal but relative. As physicist Paul Davies observes: “Einstein demonstrated that time is in fact elastic and can be stretched and strung by motion. Each observer carries around his own personal scale of time, which does not agree with anybody else’s. Our individual perception of time does not appear distorted to us, but for observers who move in different time frames than ours, we seem to be out of step with their time.”4 The time between two events at two different locations is greater for the earthbound observer, but for space travellers moving at speed of the light would the events appear as happened at same time. The Theory of Relativity states that one day for a space traveller, depending on his velocity, can equal a few years or more for an earthbound person. This startling prediction of relativity can be illustrated by the following science fiction anecdote: A twenty-year-old astronaut takes a trip to a faraway star in a spacecraft that can fly close to the speed of light. His twin brother remains on the earth. After fifty years on earth, the earthbound twin goes to the spaceport to receive his astronaut brother. Both brothers are amazed and startled. The earthbound brother is aged fifty years. He now has grey hair and wrinkled skin. But the astronaut brother has aged only one year. The clock, the calendar, and the biological aging process on the spacecraft slowed down to one-fiftieth of its normal speed. The twins agree that the adventurous space traveller is now forty-nine years younger than his earthbound twin is!5 Carl Sagan, an eminent astrophysicist, comments on the twin paradox as such: “This is not an experience of our everyday life, but it is an experience of nuclear particles, which have clocks built into them (their decay time) when they travel close to the speed of light. Time dilation is a measured and authenticated reality of the universe in which we live.”6 The US Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. is responsible for maintaining our time standard. In 1972, a physicist evaluated the concept of time dilation by carrying along four cesium-beam atomic clocks during his round-the-world trip on a scheduled airline. These clocks could be trusted to a few billionths of a second over the time span of such a voyage. When compared with matching ones that remained in the observatory, the clocks lost time. The lost time agreed exactly with Einstein’s predictions.7 Until few years ago, scientists thought that protons and electrons were indivisible 'elementary particles,' but when the particles collided at high speeds, scientists discovered that they were made up of yet smaller units. In particle-physics laboratories, the time interval for short-living particles like muons to decay into electrons and neutrinos can be recorded. Experiments have shown that the faster muons take longer to die than the slow-moving ones. This is precisely what the special theory of relativity states. Based on such experiments, the twin paradox will not be a paradox at all when we are able to travel close to the speed of light. However, the theory of relativity also suggests that nothing can travel faster than light. According to the general theory of relativity, in a field of extremely high gravity, time will grind to a halt. Such high gravity exists in black holes and their peripheries. A black hole is formed when a dying star implodes or shrinks into itself under the relentless and unforgiving influence of gravity, becoming smaller and smaller until the entire star is crushed out of existence at a single point. Physicists refer to this point of extinction as a Singularity. At this singularity, the density of matter becomes infinite, and space-time is reduced to a mathematical point. During the shrinking process, the gravity around the imploding star becomes so strong that even the rays of light cannot escape. As a result, the star disappears from our vision as it vanishes from the universe, leaving behind what is called a black hole. The periphery of the black hole is called the event horizon. We have no way of knowing what occurs inside the event horizon.8 Theoretically, time would be frozen for a person in an extremely high gravitational field such as the event horizon, while events continue to unfold in time for the observer on the earth. The gravitational freezing of time could have interesting effects. Suppose, for example, that an astronaut started to sing the US national anthem while entering the event horizon of a black hole. According to the general theory of relativity, observers on Earth (and anywhere outside the event horizon) would perceive the astronaut as singing the first note of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' indefinitely, even after billions of years have passed. However, this prediction is flawed because time dilation would slow the sound vibrations to such an extent that observers outside the event horizon would no longer be able to hear the note.9 While time appears frozen for the astronaut, events would continue on Earth and elsewhere. The astronaut would be unable to leave the event horizon, as from his perspective, history outside has already advanced beyond his own space and time. He would be, in a sense, coming out before he went in. Similarly, according to the theory, two spatially separated events may be perceived differently by observers traveling at different speeds. One observer may claim Event A happened before Event B, another might assert Event B occurred first, while a third could argue that Events A and B happened simultaneously." The astronaut near a black hole’s Event Horizon elaborates on the theoretical implications of time dilation. It explains how these extraordinary gravitational effects would impact the perception of events, both for an astronaut near the event horizon and observers far from it. The passage also touches on the relative nature of event sequencing in different frames of reference, a fundamental aspect of relativity theory. The Qur’an and Time When the Qur’an was revealed fourteen hundred years ago, people did not measure time as we do today. They did not wear watches that divided the day into time units, because clocks had not yet been invented. Their lives were not regulated by hours and minutes in abstract time but by the natural rhythms of nature, such as the changes in the seasons and the position of the sun. A day was the shortest span of time that had meaning and importance in the lives of the early Muslims, although the length of a day varied. Work began at sunrise and ended at sunset. Before the invention of the modern clock, water clocks, sundials, and other devices divided the day into five variable periods to mark the time for mandatory prayers. The study of the Qur’an guides us to understand the concept of time among early Muslims. Muslims believe that God is timeless. For example, Muhammad Asad, a contemporary Muslim scholar, states: 'What men conceive as time has no meaning with respect to God because He is timeless, without beginning and without end, so that “in relation to Him a day and a thousand years are alike.”10 This Muslim belief is based upon the verses: “This is God, your Lord; there is no god but He, the creator of all things. So, pay homage to Him for He takes care of everything.” (Qur’an 6:102) “He begets not, nor has He been begotten.” (Qur’an 112:3) “Originator of the heavens and the earth...”(Qur’an 2:117) Time as a separately identifiable entity within the framework of the universe came into existence with the beginning of the universe. If God is the only entity that has no beginning, God exists without a clock that divides time into past, present, and future. Muslims posit that God sees, hears, and knows all things in a perpetual Now or timeless state . This conclusion is supported by the Qur’anic verse: “Verily a Day in the sight of thy Lord is like a thousand years of your Reckoning.” (Qur’an 22: 47) Therefore, the Qur’anic description of time and the Muslim concept of time are that time is relative." The human understanding of time in the Hereafter Universe (Al-Akhirah) also suggests a relative nature of time. The Qur’anic verses depict a paradox of the twin like the twin astronaut scenario described earlier. The person resurrected in Al-Akhirah feels that their earthly life and the time between death and resurrection have condensed into a moment. The Qur’an illustrates this concept with verses such as: - “The day these people see seems to them as though they had stayed (in the world or in the state of death) only for an afternoon of a day or its forenoon.” (Qur’an 79:46) - “On the Day when He shall gather them, it will seem to them as if they had not tarried longer than an hour of a day, knowing one another...” (Qur’an 10:45) - “On a Day when He will call you, and you will answer by praising Him, thinking all the while that you tarried but a little while.” (Qur’an 17:52) Upon resurrection, humans will perceive their lives on Earth as lasting only a day or part of a day, indicating a dissolution of the earthly concept of time. This is expressed in the verse: - “Then Allah will inquire from them, ‘for how many years did you live on earth?’ They will say, ‘We stayed there for a day or part of the day; but ask those who count time.’” (Qur’an 23:112-113) Like the astronaut twin, resurrected beings will feel that earthly time has shrunk to a moment known only to God. They will feel to exist in a state beyond conventional time-space relationship, challenging the very notion of expressing time in Hereafter Universe (Al-Akhirah). Thus, the Qur’anic portrayal of time presents the idea that time, as understood in the afterlife, transcends conventional measurements, aligning with the notion that time is relative and subjective, where each observer experiences time differently. Why Did God Create Time Relative? Why did God create time with the material universe? Why did He make time relative? In the construction of a rational universe for humankind, God knew the logical problems worldly existence would cause for His intelligent creature, the human being. The major logical problem is the appearance of a contradiction between attributes such as God’s Omnipotence and Omniscience, and His Will to create humans with the faculty to discriminate and choose either goodness or evil. For example, if God chooses to alter the future course of an event, do not His omniscience and omnipotence stand in the way of human free will? Omniscience is a tribute of God according to the Qur’an. For example, chapter 2:255 states: “God, there is no God but He, the Living, the Eternal Sustainer. Neither slumber takes Him, nor sleep. His is what is in the heavens and what is on the earth. He knows what lies before them and what is behind them. And they grasp naughty His knowledge, but of what He wills. His Throne embraces the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him not to uphold them both. He is the Sublime, the Grand.” The verses like this and many more suggest that God always knows all things. Hence, atheists and logicians may argue that God’s knowledge, being absolute, cannot go wrong. He knew what Timothy McVeigh was going to bomb Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, even before he was created. In short, they posit that God “programmed” Timothy McVeigh to kill innocent Americans in Oklahoma City. They argue that McVeigh and other evildoers cannot be considered guilty of any sin because they are only pre-programmed machines. Because All-knowing God anticipated these logical problems for humans, He created time as a factor in our universe. He made time relative for all earthly creatures, including humankind; but all events in all time-frames, from the beginning of Creation to the end of the current universe are current events as far as God is concerned. Jewish physicist-theologian Gerald L. Schroeder clarifies the above scenario using the true story of a star that exploded, producing a sudden burst of light 170,000 light years from the earth. Astronomers call such a sudden burst of light from an exploding star a supernova. The world came to know about the supernova when a Chilean astronomical laboratory recorded the arrival of the light on earth after 170,000 light years of travel. Between the time of the supernova and the arrival of light from it, a multitude of events occurred. Neanderthals came and went; we, modern Homo Sapiens, took control of the earth; Indus valley, Maya, Greek, Roman, and other civilizations peaked and vanished; the Qur’an was revealed; Muslims developed the scientific method and trained European scientists, ending the Dark Ages and engendering the Renaissance; the Muslim empire crumbled; and the United States of America took the leadership of the world--all before the arrival of the light from the supernova on earth. Schroeder describes an imaginary consciousness without mass that travels with the light from the supernova. Let us assume also that our super consciousness carries an internal clock with no mass as its companion. How long of a time would this super consciousness have experienced? How many ticks would the super-consciousness’s clock have made? Schroeder answers: “No time would have passed. Not a few years, not a few hours, or a few seconds. Zero time.”11 In this scenario there is no lapse of time for the super-consciousness, in spite of 170,000 years of recorded history. An analogous situation of Perpetual Now or Present exists in an environment with extremely high gravity, as in the case of a black hole. The 170,000 years of the earth, its epics, individual events, Timothy McVeigh and his atrocious bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building as well as your and my life histories are experienced simultaneously by the super-consciousness. The super-consciousness would reject our claim that there is a history as well as a past and future series of events on earth. He would say that he sees everything that the primitive twenty-first-century human described as the past and the future. All happened in no time in his frame of reference. There is no post- or pre-knowledge for the super-consciousness, only omniscience, because all knowledge occurred at the same time. Physicist Gerald L. Schroeder freely admits, “I don’t pretend to understand how tomorrow and next year can exist simultaneously with today and yesterday. But at the speed of the light, they actually rigorously do. Time does not pass.”12 If gravity, speed, black holes, and other material factors can affect and freeze time, is it conceivable for human beings to perceive the timeless world of God, who created the universe and time from nothing with His Enormous Infinite Power? A reasonable person would not deny the absence of time in the presence of God, the source of all forces of the material world. Accordingly, Islamic theology describes a perpetual Now that pervades in the spiritual domain of God, a state of being/consciousness that is more accurate than the “now” of our super-consciousness. Allah experiences all events of the material world in a perpetual Now without the linear flow of time that pervades the material world. God eternally knows all events as well as all their potential directions, deviations, and modifications occurring in the time-frame of the material world. Until we fully understand physics’ mathematical mystery of a concurrent yesterday, today, tomorrow, and next year, existing together at the speed of light as described by Schroeder, the coexistence of human free will and omniscience of God will remain incomprehensible because humankind has no experience of timeless existence. According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than light; the theory negates any physical communication at a speed faster than light. This limitation in communication between two points is irrelevant from the Qur’anic point of view. The Qur’an states: “To God belong the East and the West. Wherever you turn the glory [face] of God is everywhere: All-pervading is He and all-knowing” (Qur’an 2:115). 40 God, being “All-pervading,” is present at all points and at all events. He is present in every frame of reference, whether on the earth, in the light from a supernova, in black holes, or in the time-frame of the astronaut of the twin paradox. God extends His presence even to our subconscious mind, as made clear in the verse “Whether you loudly avow the utterance (or not), surely, He knows the secret and what is concealed behind that. (Qur’an 20:7)41 God’s pervading presence in all frames of reference implies instant communication at any point we can imagine. When God comes through a particular frame of reference--for example, the earth--human beings experiences that He is communicating in our local time. Based on the physical characteristics of time, the harmony of the Quranic narrative of creation with the theory of evolution can be depicted in this figure. It highlights the integration of the perspective of an earth-bound scientist who perceives the creation of the entire body of life as a process spanning billions of years with the creation. A decree from the timeless reign is appears as events happened over billions of years for a bound. A diagram of a graph/Description automatically generated ---- Notes 1. Morris, Richard. Time’s Arrows. New Yorks: Simon and Schuster, Inc. 1986. Page 66-67 2. Hawking, Stephen W. A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books. 1988. Page. 7. 3, Morris, Richard. Time’s Arrows, p. 27., In. 4. Davies, Paul. God and the New Physics, Simon and Schusterp. 1990. Page 120. 5. March, Robert H. Physics for Poets, Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1978. Page. 124. 6. Sagan, Carl. Cosmic Connections, p. 246. 7. March, Robert H. Physics for Poets, p. 125. 8. Morris, Richard. Time’s Arrows, p. 66-67. 9. Ibid. 180-181 10. Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’an. Gibralter; Dar Al Andalus. 1980. Page . 513. 11. Schroeder, Gerald L. The Science of God:: the Convergence of Scientific Biblical Wisdom. New York: Free Press. Page. 164. 12. bid. p. 164 ---- T.O. Shanavas is a native of Kerala, but is now based in the USA. He is the author of “Islamic Theory of Evolution The Missing Link Between Darwin and The Origin of Species.” Co-author of the book, And God Said, "Let There Be Evolution!": Reconciling The Book Of Genesis, The Qur'an, And The Theory Of Evolution. Edited by Prof. Charles M. Wynn and Prof. Arthur W. Wiggins. 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