RELATIVITY OF TIME ANNOUNCED 1400 YEARS AGO

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RELATIVITY OF TIME ANNOUNCED 1400 YEARS AGO

4- To Him ascend the angels and the spirit in a day the measure of which is 
fifty thousand years. 

70-The Heights, 4 


5- He regulates all affairs from the heaven to the earth. Then they ascend to 
Him in a day, the measure of which is a thousand years as you count. 

32-The Prostration, 5 

Throughout history, ?time? was assumed to apply equally in every imaginable spot 
in the universe and in every medium. If we consider this conception, we can see 
the radical change that the above verses brought. The Quran said that, according 
to circumstances, the ?day? concept might equal even up to fifty thousand years. 
These verses which must have encountered objections have been elucidated in the 
twentieth century and shed light on important truths. 

The theory of relativity is Einstein?s best known discovery. However, many 
people whose interests are not in any way related to physics are at a loss to 
understand what this theory signifies. The Quran had already touched on these 
facts 1400 years ago. Einstein?s theory of relativity has two main divisions, 
namely the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity. 

According to Einstein, time would pass more slowly for somebody driving a 
vehicle at a speed close to the velocity of light. In a medium in which an 
inhabitant of the earth passes one hundred days, it may take a person fifty days 
to displace at a speed nearing the propagation speed of light. This finding is 
the most interesting fact of the relativity theory. Time slows down in direct 
proportion with speed. Time is therefore a relative conception, as indicated in 
the Quran. Hours differ and days are conceived differently according to the 
medium, place and speed involved. 

The general theory of relativity deals with gravitational fields and tries to 
demonstrate that time is slower in the fields of greater gravitation. A man 
walking on the surface of the sun will see that his clock runs more slowly, as 
do the biological and anatomical functions and all the motions in terms of his 
atoms. Recent experiments have corroborated this fact. One of these experiments 
was conducted in the 
British National Institute of Physics. John Laverty, researcher, synchronized 
two clocks indicating the exact time (two clocks of optimum 
perfection; error of precision in the course of a space of time of 300,000 years 
would be not more than 1 second). One of these clocks was kept at a laboratory 
in London; the other was taken aboard an airplane shuttling between London and 
China. The high altitude at which the aircraft flies is subject to a lower 
gravitational force. In other words, time was expected to pass at a faster rate 
aboard a plane in conformity with the general relativity theory. There is not so 
great a difference in terms of gravity between someone treading upon the earth 
and someone flying in the air. This difference could only be established by a 
precision instrument. It was established that the clock aboard the aircraft had 
a greater speed, one per fifty five billion seconds. This experiment is one of 
the proofs of the relativity of time. According to the prevailing prejudice, 
there should not be any difference between the two clocks. This supports the 
dispelling of prejudices as foreseen in the Quran. Had it been possible to make 
this experiment on a planet with greater gravitational force, there would be no 
need for precision instruments to measure the difference, since normal watches 
could do the job.

THE USE OF THE WORD ?DAY? IN THE QURAN
Verse 5 of the sura The Prostration and Verse 4 of the sura The Heights not only 
point to the relativity of time, but give also a clear meaning of the Arabic 
word ?yawm? that denotes not only the space of time of one day - which comprises 
24 hours - but also a certain period of time. This makes it easier to understand 
the six ?yawm?s mentioned in the Quran (See: 7-The Purgatory, 54; 11-Hud, 7; 10- 
Jonah, 3; 25-The Distinguisher, 59; 32-The Prostration, 4; 57-Iron, 4.) Before 
the creation of the universe and the world there was no notion of ?day,? a 
period of 24 hours. Therefore, the six ?yawm?s must be understood as six ?periods.? 

This gives a clue to the Jews and Christians for the interpretation of the 
Biblical account according to which the world was created in six days. Findings 
in the domain of space physics show that the universe and our world passed 
through many stages, from a gaseous state to galaxies, to the formation of the 
atmosphere surrounding the Earth, and of waters and metals. The fact that the 
Quran refers to the stages that the process of creation went through is also 
better understood by modern cosmology. 

If we remember the stories of creation of ancient Egypt, China and India, we 
encounter wild fancies such as a universe standing on a tortoise or as an 
eternally existing entity. None of the past civilizations had made any reference 
to the stages of this evolution. This message of the Quran contributes to a 
correct interpretation of Biblical exegeses of the concept of day. The message 
in the Bible that reads: ?And on the seventh day God finished His work that He 
had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.? 
(Genesis 2, 2) was thus corrected, as fatigue was certainly out of the question 
for God. 

38- We created the heavens and the earth, and all that lies between them in six 
days, and no fatigue touched us. 
50-Qaf, 38

CONTRIBUTION OF THE RELATIVITY THEORY
Einstein postulated that the concept of time was relative. For Kant time was an 
innate function of reason. He contended that the perception of time was an a 
priori category. Einstein?s physics was henceforth the science that integrated 
time and space, so that, instead of space we had now space-time. 

There is something that must not escape attention, however: the perception of 
time is achieved by the intellect. Since according to our estimation, just as 
the special relativity theory establishes that velocity makes time relative and 
the general relativity theory postulates that gravity makes time relative, one 
should elaborate on ?the intellect?s relativity? which posits that the intellect?s 
perception manner would render the relative perception of time. Like a key that 
fits the lock, our intellect also has the capacity of perceiving time and the 
universe. That is (1) time exists in the universe, (2) and the intellect is 
created with a priori abilities to perceive time and the universe. The two 
processes are coexistent, just like the coexistence of the world seen by us and 
the eyes. 

It seems to us only fair to add the intellect?s perception factor to Einstein?s 
concepts relating velocity and gravity and time. Comprehension of time?s 
relativity will contribute to a better understanding of the Quran. For instance, 
it is said in the Quran that the dead will think when resurrected that their 
span on the earth had been very brief. Once time?s relativity has been conceived, 
the puzzling 
question of the time to elapse from one?s death till the Day of Judgment will be 
clear. Such questions for the inquisitive mind that sees the time upon the earth 
as the only valid time regardless of the attending circumstances will find their 
answer, once time?s relativity is understood. Given the fact that a deceased 
person is outside the confines of the temporal dimensions of the earth, the time 
to elapse after his death, regardless of its actual duration, would be of no 
consequence. 

45- On the day when He gathers them, it will appear to them as if they had 
tarried an hour of a day... 
10-Jonah, 45 

112- He said: ?How many years did you stay on earth?? 
113- They said: ?We stayed a day or part of a day, ask those 
who account.? 
23-The Believers, 112-113

ANYONE AMONG US TIRED OF WAITING FOR EONS?
The reason why the fifteen billion years that elapsed from the moment the 
universe was created until the creation of man was made clear by time?s 
relativity. In a different context, fifteen billion years may be conceived as 
one minute or even less. The length of its duration depends on our perception 
and standpoint.