Dr. Muhammad Salim
The discoveries of astronomers today and for almost a quarter of a century have revolved around bizarre invisible creations in the space, called “Black Holes”. Astronomers considered these black holes as a greatest cosmic phenomenon. The questions are: How do these holes form and why are they invisible? Why do they move at an overwhelming formidable speed sucking in whatever comes their way? Is there any evidence of these creations in the Noble Qur’an? Such scientific phenomenon needs to be contemplated.
The Phenomenon of Black Holes:
The black hole is a region of space so compressed that matter is drawn towards it in a very high density. Once inside, nothing can escape even light. The black hole forms when a big star collapses due to losing its nuclear fuel. Although the black hole is invisible, however, it has an immense gravitation pull that sucks in all bodies around it.
Background of black holes:
In 1790, John Michel, British, and Pierre Simon, French, proposed the existence of invisible stars in the sky. In 1915, Albert Einstein of the General Relativity Theory predicted the existence of these objects in the sky and their impact on time and space. Finally, in 1967, the American astronomer John Waller talked about black holes formed as a result of star collapse. In 1994, astronomers confirmed by Hubble Space Telescope the existence of an invisible object in the center of the galaxy M87 surrounded by gas in a clear whirlpool. The weight of such an object is estimated to be three thousand millions times heavier than that of the sun. The x-rays emitted from these objects helped substantiate their existence later.
It is proved that any star weighing twenty times the weight of the sun can transform at the end of its life into a black hole as a result of its big gravity field and its huge mass. However, if a star is small and loses its nuclear fuel, its gravity force and small mass are not enough to compress it into a black hole, in which case it is transformed into a white dwarf, i.e. a dead star. Therefore, to become a black hole, a star must enjoy a huge mass at the end of its life. For example, the sun at the end of its life will consume its nuclear fuel and darken quietly. It won’t transform into a black hole because its weight is not quite enough to do so. In the Noble Qur’an, we may find a good reference to the case of the sun. Allah the Almighty said:” When the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up.” (Surat Al-Takweer, Verse 1). Therefore, the sun won’t collapse but darkens slowly.
The black hole has immense gravitation; therefore, any gas passes close to it will be sucked in by it and spin like a strong whirlpool, generating intense heat due to this whirling which spins as fast as a rapid hurricane. The heat emits X-rays continuously. With their tools, astronomers can easily spot these X-rays and decide if a region of space contains a black hole.
Escape velocity is the minimum speed needed for an object to escape from gravitational influence of a massive body. As for earth’s gravity, an object needs to be thrown at a speed faster than 11.2 kilometers per second. However, in the case of a black hole, the escape velocity must be higher, and no object can reach such speed, even the light which travels at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second cannot escape from the gravitational pull of a black hole as the light’s speed is not enough to do so; and that is why a black hole is invisible.
To realize how great these stars are, imagine that you have thrown a stone up while you are standing on the surface of the earth, such a stone will come back down due to the effect of earth gravity. Now, imagine that the escape velocity on the surface of a black hole is faster than light speed, i.e. over 300,000 kilometers per second, thus even light cannot escape from the gravitational pull of the black hole as it is quite dark and invisible. It is hidden behind the event horizon which is the boundary around the mouth of the black hole where light loses its ability to escape.
To imagine the hugeness of these creations, an astronomer conducted an experiment for weighing a black hole. He found that a teaspoonful of a black hole weighs more than four thousand millions tons. Also, scientists found black holes with a mass ten thousand million times greater than the sun’s. The black hole mass is over one thousand million times the sun’s.
The Noble Qur’an clearly explains the phenomenon of black holes. Allah the Almighty says:” So verily I call to witness the planets – that recede. Go straight, or hide.” (Surat Al-Takweer, Verses 15- 16)
A black hole creates an immense gravitational pull, not unlike an invisible cosmic vaccum cleaner. As it moves, it sucks in all matter in its way- not even light can escape. One gets surprised to know that such scientific fact has been rhetorically stated in the Noble Qur’an since the seventh Gregorian century. The above mentioned verses refer to three characteristics of these black holes, which are:
- They are invisible objects.
- They enjoy an immense gravitational pull that works like a vacuum cleaner sucking in every matter, radiation or light that comes their way.
- They move constantly.
This means that since the seventh century, nobody could have imagined that there are invisible stars that move and enjoy an immense gravitational force that works like a vacuum cleaner in the space. However, the Noble Qur’an has told us about these bizarre creations in a scientific astounding precision. This is to deduce that the Holy Qur’an has foretold such cosmic facts. These creations are but a great witness of the omnipotence of the Creator of the universe. Moreover, it is further proved that this Noble Qur’an is a sacred Book of Allah and not a book authored by a human being. Allah the Almighty said:” Do they not ponder on the Qur’an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy.” (Surat Al-Nisa’s, Verse 82).
The formation and development of black holes:
It is previously mentioned that the American physicist John Waller was the first one who gave this phenomenon the name of “black holes” in 1967. Black holes form when a gigantic star explodes at the last stages of its life. Such an explosion is called “Supernovae” where parts of the star are scattered in the space. Although they are invisible, these black holes represent 90% of the content of the universe. There are three kinds of black holes:
1. The small black hole known as basic and primitive; it is the size of an atom, but its mass is huge.
2. Intermediate black hole, which is called “stellar black hole”, it is more common. Its mass is twenty times bigger than that of the sun. It can be put in a ball of 16-kilometer diameter. There are ten million to billions of stellar black holes with masses roughly three times that of the sun. They are found in the Milky Way Galaxy.
3. The big black hole which is known as “Supermassive”. The mass of this big black hole is million times greater than the mass of the sun. It can be put in a ball of a diameter equal to the diameter of the solar system. It is scientifically proved that each big galaxy contains a supermassive black hole in its center. The supermassive black hole in the center of Milky Way is called the arc. Its mass equals the mass of four million suns and it can be put inside a ball of a diameter equal to that of the sun.
The Scientific Miracles of the Noble Qur’an:
In a seminar on the scientific miracles of the Noble Qur’an, Clare Forestier, the BBC seasoned journalist, reporter, presenter, producer and online journalist, recorded a videotape in YouTube highlighting the phenomenon of black holes and its relation with what was revealed in the Noble Qur’an 1400 years ago. Allah the Almighty said: “By the star when it goes down” (Surat Al-Najm, Verse 1). However, the BBC journalist put the previous verse in this way: “By the star when it falls”. Actually, stars do not fall to the ground; they just move fast leaving their places at the end of their lives. They collapse, get compressed to form a black hole. Surat Al-Najm gives us a detailed description of black holes. Although the Noble Qur’an mentioned the phenomenon of black holes 1400 years ago, astronomers only came to record it in 2011. In 2016, they recorded three cases of stars falling into black holes. Astronomers found many clues in the heavenly trip arranged for Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from the Grand Mosque in Makkah (Al-Masjid Al-Haram) to Jerusalem (Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa), and then he was made to ascend up until he reached the finite jujube tree in the company of the Archangel Gabriel. It is a miraculous trip because at the time there were no planes or rocket ships that could have taken him to such a remote place.
These black holes are dark, nothing is darker than them. Light cannot travel in straight lines into black holes. According to astronomers, one cannot look directly into them because they are very dark. However, the Noble Qur’an has drawn our attention to a very important fact as it told us that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had visited the black holes and could see directly into them. Allah the Almighty said: “Near the Lotetree beyond which none may pass. Near it is the Garden of Abode.Behold, the Lotetree was shrouded (in mystery unspeakable!).(His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! For truly did he see, of the signs of his Lord, the greatest! (Surat Al-Najm, Verses 14-18). Although astronomers believe that this region of black holes is infinite, yet the Holy Qur’an revealed and confirmed that it is finite as it leads to the Garden of Abode.
Conclusion:
Finally, astronomers have come to admit that the area of black holes is finite. Astronomers like George Polin, Rodolfo Gambini, and Gerard t’ Hooft proved that power can escape from a black hole. So black holes are considered to be an entrance to another world which is the Garden of Abode as it is revealed in the Holy Qur’an (Surat Al-Najm). Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist supports the claim that one can find a way out of the black hole. At last, scientists have come to agree that the area described by the Noble Qur’an is the area of black holes.
References:
1- The Holy Qur’an, English translation of meanings and commentary, revised and edited by The Presidency of Islamic Researches, IFTA, Call, and Guidance. (King Fahd Holy Qur’an Printing Complex)
2- Friday Sermon no. 1137: Sermon no. 1, Black Holes by Sheikh Muhammad Ratib Al-Nabulsi, 22/01/2010
3- Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time, Bantam Publishing, 1996
4- At the heart of every galaxy lurks a black hole, astronomers believe, www.chron.com, Jan 14, 1997
• Black Holes, www.encyclopedia britannica.com . Last updated by Ibrahim Abu Ghazala, April, 16, 2018.