In this article, I wrote about the verse of the Quran, which mentions time being relative.
Translation of Verse 47 of Surah Al-Hajj
They challenge you, O Prophet, to hasten the torment(Day of Judgment/Doom's Day). And Allah will never fail in His promise. But a day with your Lord is indeed like a thousand years by your counting.
Explanation
At the beginning of this verse of Surah Al-Hajj, Allah says that the infidels challenge the Prophet Muhammad SAW in bringing the Day of Judgment or the Doom's Day before its actual time. They do so to see those punishments quickly, which they are promised by Allah for their misdeeds. It is also clearly mentioned in the second part of this verse that Allah will never fail in his promise which means that those people who have done misdeeds and disobeyed Allah will surely be punished on the day of Judgment. The last part of this verse talks about a concept in Modern Physics which is known as relativistic time or time dilation. Now, if you read the last part of the verse, then Allah says, 'A Day with your Lord is indeed like a thousand years of your counting.' In my last article, I briefly explained time dilation and how it is affected by gravity and the frame of reference. You can click on the link below to read that article. This verse and many other verses of the Holy Quran serve as clear proof that the Quran is the book of Allah Almighty revealed upon the beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW for the guidance of mankind 1400 years ago at a time when people were not even familiar with these sorts of Scientific concepts. These verses, which describe various scientific concepts, are revealed in the Holy Quran only so that we can ponder upon the greatness and wisdom of Almighty Allah. It doesn't change the sole purpose of the Holy Quran which is the guidance of Mankind to the right path to succeed in this life and in the life hereafter.
One thing to keep in mind is that there can be various others explanations of this verse and only Allah Almighty knows what is the correct explanation.
Views of Imam al-Ghazali on Relativistic time
Imam al-Ghazali was a Persian Muslim Polymath who lived in the mid-eleventh and early twelfth century. He was one of the most prominent scholars, jurisconsult, theologian, philosopher and mystic of his time. Imam al-Ghazali also viewed space and time as being relative in extension, and he also viewed time as being observer-dependent. Although his view on time does not align perfectly with the theory of relativity they do have some similarities. He said that:
"Similarly, it will be said that just as spatial extension is a concomitant of body; temporal extension is a concomitant of motion. And just as the proof for the finitude of the dimensions of the body prohibits affirming a spatial dimension beyond it, the proof for the finitude of motion at both ends prohibits affirming a temporal extension before it, even though the estimation clings to its imagining it and it's supposing it, not desisting from [this]. There is no difference between temporal extension that in relation [to us] divides verbally into (before) and (after) and spatial extension that in relation [to us] divides into (above) and (below). If, then, it is legitimate to affirm an “above” that has no above, it is legitimate to affirm a (before) that has no real before, except an estimative imaginary [one] as with the (above).”
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