Nizar’s Blog

To start with, I would like to talk a little about the principle of contradiction.

The Law of contradiction states:

Contradictory statements cannot both at the same time be true.

For example the two propositions A is B and A is not B are mutually exclusive. A may be B at one time, and not at another; A may be partly B and partly not B at the same time; but it is impossible to predicate of the same thing, at the same time, and in the same sense, the absence and the presence of the same quality.

This is the statement of the law given by Aristotle. It takes no account of the truth of either proposition; if one is true, the other is not; one of the two must be true.

This simply means that two contradicting theories can not be both true at the same time, for example:

David’s cat is either alive or dead, it can not be both a live and dead at the same time.

Another example is X^2 = 4

In this case, X can be either 2 or –2, but it can not be both at the same time.

Another example is the physical study of light for example, there is a theory that studies light as particles and another that studies it as waves, however, these two theories can be both true because they do not contradict each other.

Accepting that two contradicting theories can be both true at the same time goes against what our mathematical and scientific knowledge because mathematics and science are based on this logical principle, hence science is based on mathematics, and mathematics is based on logic.

Now lets focus more on Islam.

The problem here is that there is no one and only one true Islam, there is my, your and his interpretation and understanding of Islam, and to prove this, most Muslims today disagree with the actions of Al-Qaida for example, but they can not call them un-Islamic simply because they are based on their interpretations and understanding of what the Quran and the Sunnah says.

In this case, we are having a similar situation of the physical understanding of light, there are different understanding of how Islam works, but they do not contradict each other and thus they can all be true at the same time.

Until one manages to prove that Islamic extremism is false, by for example proving that their understanding of the Quran is false (not bad or dangerous), then we can dismiss what Al Qaida is doing as true Islam.

Before we start with the next step, I want to point out the difference between a theory and a fact:

A fact is an objective and verifiable observation.

A theory is a conceptual framework that explains existing observations and predicts new ones according to the best possible abilities of the latest scientific research.

Just because something is not directly observable does not in anyway make it less true than something directly observed.

Many people do not differentiate between a theory and a hypothesis, so here is the definition of a hypothesis:

A hypothesis is is a working assumption that has not yet been tested.

So basically facts are observations and theories and hypothesis intend to explain or interpret these facts.

In the time line below, I presented the two different explanations of how we came to exist to the point we are in today, the top timeline is the scientific, the second is the Islamic.

The problem with the Islamic belief is that you have to take it as a whole, hence it is the ultimate whole truth unedited and thus if a part of it is wrong, the whole trust system cracks, unlike scientific theories for example.

In this part, I will focus on the contradictions between what Islamic creationism claims and what we know scientifically today.

The Big Bang theory:

If open the Quran and read from [41:10] to [41:12], surat فصلت, we will find the following:

وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَٰسِىَ مِن فَوْقِهَا وَبَٰرَكَ فِيهَا وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَآ أَقْوَٰتَهَا فِىٓ أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍۢ سَوَآءًۭ لِّلسَّآئِلِينَ

(10) And He made in it mountains above its surface, and He blessed therein and made therein its foods, in four periods: alike for the seekers.

ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَهِىَ دُخَانٌۭ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ٱئْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًۭا قَالَتَآ أَتَيْنَا طَآئِعِينَ

(11) Then He directed Himself to the heaven and it is a vapor, so He said to it and to the earth: Come both, willingly or unwillingly. They both said: We come willingly.

فَقَضَىٰهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَٰوَاتٍۢ فِى يَوْمَيْنِ وَأَوْحَىٰ فِى كُلِّ سَمَآءٍ أَمْرَهَا ۚ وَزَيَّنَّا ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا بِمَصَٰبِيحَ وَحِفْظًۭا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ

(12) So He ordained them seven heavens in two periods, and revealed in every heaven its affair; and We adorned the lower heaven with brilliant stars and (made it) to guard; that is the decree of the Mighty, the Knowing.

This Basically states that God created the earth, at a time when the rest of the universe was smoke, and after furnishing earth with mountains and foods, he turned then to the heavens and made them into the sky we have today and created the stars.

This means that Earth is the oldest mass-object in our universe, even older than all the stars we have around us, which is a contradiction with the big bang theory.

Formation of the oldest star HE 1523-0901 (13.2 billion years ago).

Formation of the first galaxies (13.2 billion years ago).

Earliest formation of I stars (10.1 billion years ago).

Formation of the Milky Way galactic disk (> 10 billion years ago, < 6.5 billion years ago).

Formation of the Earth (4.54 billion years ago).

To show this clearer I will present it on a graphical timeline:

Conclusion:

We have a contradiction between what Islamic creationism states and what the science today states.

Islamic creationism states that earth is the oldest object in our universe and it existed before the stars were formed.

The big bang theory, astronomical and cosmological studies state that earth is not the oldest planet in the universe and it has not existed before the formation of stars.

These two statements contradict each other and thus can not be both true at the same time.

Evidence supports the scientific statements and thus disproves the Islamic creationism.

This allows us to label Islamic creationism as false.