Divine Gaze in the Universe

The Holy Qur’an repeatedly draws our attention to the creation of human beings and other wondrous phenomena in the universe. The Sun and the Moon, the stars and the planets, the lightning and the thunderbolt, rain and shine, deserts and the seas, rivers and streams, birds and animals - all reflect the grandeur and majesty of Allah, so declares the Qur’an:

“And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He. And He knows whatsoever is in the land and in the sea. And there falls not a leaf but He knows it; nor is there a grain in the deep darkness of the earth, nor anything green or dry, but is recorded in a clear Book” (6:60)

The Holy Book exhorts us to apply our rational faculty and think deeply about the creation of the universe and other countless phenomena in the world. It asks us to deduct and derive appropriate lessons from the study of natural phenomena. It states: 

"verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day, and in the ships which sail in the sea with that which profits men, and the water which Allah send s down from the sky and quickens therewith the earth after its death and scatters therein all kinds of beasts, and in the change of the winds, and the clouds pressed into service between the heaven and the earth-are indeed Signs for people who understand” (2:165). 

Pointing to the unmatched Divine Power behind the creation of the universe, the Holy Book asks: 

“No incongruity can you see in the creation of the Gracious God. 

Then look again: See you any flaw? 

Aye, look again, and yet again, your sight will only return to you, frustrated and fatigued” (67:4-5). 

Renowned theoretical physicist and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Abdus Salam was a devout Muslim. He described this Qur’anic verse as representing the “belief of all physicists”.


He thoughtfully added: 

“the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement for our gaze”.

As a spiritual framework, Islam is essentially an appeal to the human mind and consciousness- to understand the purpose of creation and our existence in this universe. 

“Those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth: ‘Our Lord, Thou have not created this in vain; nay, Holy are Thou…” (3:192).