My little sister and I were out for a walk last night. The sky was clear around 11:00pm and the stars were shining brightly. She looked up, saw the North Star, and asked me which planet it was. I told her it was Venus.
Then I went about telling her how the planets reflected light, and appeared brighter, while the stars emitted light or radiation. She kept asking me questions about the universe. One of them was, that if to us, all the heavenly bodies appear up above in the sky, does it mean, that to anybody on those planets, we would appear down under in space? I said No, the way we are attracted to our planet's center of gravity, so we walk with our feet on the ground, and heads toward the sky, and that’s true for anywhere around the world; the same way, anybody on other planets would be walking, due to their planet’s center of gravity, feet on the ground and heads toward the sky, and so to them, we too would appear up above in their sky.
Then she asked if God only made earth with an intelligent life form like humans and sent prophets here? To this question, I told her what I always thought of the Universe, since childhood.
Then she asked if God only made earth with an intelligent life form like humans and sent prophets here? To this question, I told her what I always thought of the Universe, since childhood.
I thought this universe was so big and earth was so small even as compared to most of the planets in its own solar system. Why would God make such a huge Universe with countless stars and galaxies, when there had to be intelligent life form only on earth, which is so small? If suppose I have a few hundreds TB (terabytes) space on my Personal Computer, why would I use only a few Bytes for some application software, and why did I even buy those hundreds of TBs if I only had to use a few Bytes? Its not like humans are the OS (Operating system) or the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) of the universe. The point is that, there definitely is much much more intelligent life forms out there in space.
There could definitely be other planets in some other solar systems in space, which would be a home to these much brighter creatures. Take the example of the different life forms God has created on this planet of ours alone, and not to forget the jinns mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.
God has created angels too. Some would say, what about humans being "Ashraf-ul-Makhluqat"?
On the use of the word Ashraf ul Makhluqat, Sheikh Ahmed Kutty, a Senior Lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada says, that, "the title ashraful Makhluqat or ashraf-ul-Khalq (the best of creation) is generally used for Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who has been chosen by Allah Almighty to be the seal of Prophets. I do not think it is used generally to all human beings. However, it is true that Almighty Allah refers to the ummah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the best nation on the face of the earth so long as they remain steadfast on faith, enjoin what is good and forbid what is bad."
In the Holy Qur'an God says, in Surah Teen, Chapter 95, Verse 4, “Indeed Allah has created the human in the best of forms.”
Pickthal translation: “Surely We created man of the best stature“
Shakir translation: “Certainly We created man in the best make.”
Yusuf Ali translation: “We have indeed created man in the best of moulds”
And in Surah Al-e-Imran, Chapter 3, Verse 110, God says, "Ye are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah."
The word Ashraf-ul-Makhluqat is thus not used for mankind, but only for the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), as he is the best of all mankind. And Humans are the best nations on the face of this earth.
Now coming back to the topic, the way God sent over 1,24,000 Prophets on earth for guiding the humans (And Jinns), the same way God would have sent down messengers on other planets with intelligent life forms, from among them, for guiding them.
I believe that the other life forms on other planets would be far more intelligent than us, though some might be dumb.
Taking a closer look at the progress we have made, with all the unemployment, the man-made disasters, the disease, the hunger, the poverty, the confused scientists still looking for cures to certain diseases, we realize that we may not be the most intelligent ones in the whole Universe. The point is that, God could not have went all the way creating this boundless, endless universe only to put humans the only intelligent life form here. That would be so unfair to think.
Coming to a common question most people ask. If there are any much brighter and more intelligent life forms out there, why haven’t we heard from them so far? (Apart from all the fiction and movies).
Pickthal translation: “Surely We created man of the best stature“
Shakir translation: “Certainly We created man in the best make.”
Yusuf Ali translation: “We have indeed created man in the best of moulds”
And in Surah Al-e-Imran, Chapter 3, Verse 110, God says, "Ye are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah."
The word Ashraf-ul-Makhluqat is thus not used for mankind, but only for the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), as he is the best of all mankind. And Humans are the best nations on the face of this earth.
Now coming back to the topic, the way God sent over 1,24,000 Prophets on earth for guiding the humans (And Jinns), the same way God would have sent down messengers on other planets with intelligent life forms, from among them, for guiding them.
I believe that the other life forms on other planets would be far more intelligent than us, though some might be dumb.
Taking a closer look at the progress we have made, with all the unemployment, the man-made disasters, the disease, the hunger, the poverty, the confused scientists still looking for cures to certain diseases, we realize that we may not be the most intelligent ones in the whole Universe. The point is that, God could not have went all the way creating this boundless, endless universe only to put humans the only intelligent life form here. That would be so unfair to think.
Coming to a common question most people ask. If there are any much brighter and more intelligent life forms out there, why haven’t we heard from them so far? (Apart from all the fiction and movies).
This is serious. So here goes what I think. Well, here this question makes me think of Chapter 55, Surah Ar-Rahman.
In Surah Ar-Rahman Chapter 55, Verses 19 and 20, God says,
19. “He has let loosed the two seas (the salt water and the sweet) meeting together.”
20. ”Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress.”
The barrier being that both waters have different densities, so they don’t mix together and flow side by side.
The way the sweet and salty waters cannot transgress their limits, further in another verse 33, Ar-Rahman Chapter 55, God says,
33. “O assembly of jinns and men! If you have power to pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, then pass (them)! But you will never be able to pass them, except with authority (from Allah)!”
So the point is that, the way our Earthlings both the Jinns and Humans can’t escape these bounds, due to the barriers of the difference in the media of the Earth and the Space. (The fact that there is much more higher power required, and a medium Oxygen needed for us to survive, which won’t necessarily be a medium for some other life forms in the universe elsewhere). We can't even survive a heat wave on earth without proper measures, so getting closer to some planets or the stars with massive heat emissions is out of the question. And then overcoming the gravitational forces here and there also require a lot of force. In the same way, these other intelligent life forms, in other galaxies, may also not have the authority to do so. And thus we haven’t heard from them yet.....
Well, there is much more on this, but I would love to hear your bright ideas about outer space. So bring 'em on !
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