Part Five
The origin of the universe is described in the Qur'an in the following verse:
"He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth."
(The Qur'an, 6:101)
This information given in the Qur'an is in full agreement with the findings of contemporary science.
The conclusion that astrophysics has reached today is
that the entire universe, together with the dimensions of matter and time,
came into existence as a result of a great explosion that occurred in no
time. This event, known as "The Big Bang" proved that the
universe was created from nothingness as the result of the explosion of a
single point. Modern scientific circles are in agreement that the Big 
Bang
is the only rational and provable explanation of the beginning of the
universe and of how the universe came into being.
Before the Big Bang, there was no such thing as matter. From a condition of non-existence in which neither matter, nor energy, nor even time existed, and which can only be described metaphysically, matter, energy, and time were all created. This fact, only recently discovered by modern physics, was announced to us in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago.
In
the Qur'an God stresses compassion, benevolence, justice and wisdom. That
compassion and mercy are central themes in Islam should be self-evident
when almost every chapter of the Qur'an begins with: In the Name of God,
The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful.
In a famous saying of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, he says: 'The merciful are shown mercy by the Merciful one. Show mercy to those on earth and you will be shown mercy by the One in Heaven.' The Qur'an declares that Muhammad was sent as a Mercy to the worlds (21:107), something to which he himself testified when he refused to curse a warring tribe: 'I have not been sent to curse, but as a summoner and as a mercy'. Indeed, such is the centrality of mercy and compassion in Islam, that the aforementioned tradition is the first tradition of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, that is taught to the student of Sacred Law. Muslim scholars have said that in every matter, Muslims should be just, merciful and wise - anything that is lacking in any one of these principles cannot be said to be derived from Sacred Law.
Compassion in Islam is not restricted to Muslims only, but it also requires sensitivity to the suffering of others. In a tradition, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, declared that 'people are God's children and those dearest to God are the ones who treat His children kindly.' A Muslim cannot be considered to be compassionate while there is suffering and injustice around them. It is for this reason, that Islam requires the community of believers to be one in which caring for your neighbours is an integral component of belief. The concern for your neighbour (irrespective of whether they are Muslim or not) is so crucial, that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to say that even if one person remains hungry in a particular area, no angel will descend in that area until that hungry person is fed.
