Professor Tariq Muneer
The Quran has numerous verses that talk about the Earth and the cosmos. In very many Chapters (Sura) the Quran invites man to reflect on the Majestic creation. Here is one example, a rather long verse from the 2nd Chapter of the holy book: Sura A-Baqra, ayat 164. “Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, In the alternation Of Night and the Day…… Between the sky and the earth; (Here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise”.
The Delhi-based famous scholar of Islam, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, in his book Zuhoor-e-Islam has divided the historical development in three stages: (i) The Creation of the Earth and the cosmos (Sura Al-Anbia, ayat 30), (ii) the finalisation of religion (Sura Fateh, ayat 28), and (iii) the Age of Information, i.e. Sura Ha-Mim, ayat 53 in which Quran not only reiterates the above message but also talks in future tense thus, “Soon will We show them Our Signs in the (furthest) Regions (of the earth) and in their own souls, until It becomes manifest to them That this is the Truth. Is it not enough that Thy Lord doth witness All things?” Could it be the case that the verse is referring to our present age? One wonders and ponders.
Furthermore, in the same book he, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan has referred to the number of prophets that were sent as 124,000. In Sura Fatir, ayat 24 the Quran says thus “Lo! We have sent thee with the Truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; and there is not a nation but a warner hath passed among them”. The latter message is only too logical as no nation would remain neglected of the divine message.
The Vedas are a large body of texts that originated in India between 1700 and 500 BC. The root word of Vedas is ‘vid’ which means ‘to know’. Vedas are called ‘Marai’ or ‘Vaymoli’ in parts of South India. Marai means ‘hidden, a secret, or mystery’.
In Vedic scripture the number 108 has a special significance and is considered a holy number. In Sanskrit it is called ‘Harshad’ number which means ‘great joy’. Another significance of the number 108 is that it is exactly divisible by the sum of its constituent integers. The Hindus ‘Jap Mala’ also contains 108 beads.
The Vedic cosmology states that the diameter of our Sun is 108 times that of our planet Earth. It is also stated that the distance between Earth and Sun is 108 times the diameter of Sun. Furthermore, the Vedas say that the Earth-Moon distance is 108 times Moon’s diameter.
Using accurate astronomical data that we now have access to I have obtained all the relevant dimensions that are referred. For example, the accuracy of the Earth-Moon distance is 99.9999999933923% and the diameter of the Sun is 99.995% accurate.
The top right-hand corner of the diagram shows those dimensions, with the mentioned ratios included in the bottom left-hand corner. It is amazing that what was stated in the Vedas 1500 years ago is now proving to be 98-99% accurate as the three ratios all lie on either side of the number 108 so closely. In Sura Rahman, ayat 7, the Quran says, “And the sky He hath uplifted; and He hath set the measure”. How very apt is the latter verse. Subhan Allah!
One subtle point that is worth mentioning is that in the three ratios that Vedas mention, the Earth, the ‘abode of the reader of the scriptures’ is the objective and that is a rather poetic conclusion.
Diagram showing the cosmological constants related to Earth, Sun and Moon.
