In this article I have written about the Verse of the Holy Quran in which there is Mention of Atoms. In addition to this I have also written about the views of Muslim scholars on atoms.
Translation of Verse no.3 of Surah Saba
The Unbelievers say, “ Never to us will come The Hour ” : say, “ Nay ! But most surely, By my Lord, it will come Upon you ;—by Him Who knows the unseen,— From Whom is not hidden The least little atom In the Heavens or on earth : Nor is there anything less Than that, or greater, but Is in the Record Perspicuous.
Explanation
The above-mentioned verse of the Holy Quran describes about Allah's wisdom in a very beautiful manner. If you read this verse then there is a clear mention of the word 'atom'. Before I delve into the explanation of this verse I will first discuss about the discovery of atoms and how the term 'atom' came into existence. In the 5th Century B.C Greek philosopher Democritus proposed that;
"Every thing in this universe can be divided into tiny indivisible particles called atmos which can not be divided further."
This word 'atmos' has now evolved into 'atoms'. Although Democritus was the first man who postulated this theory but it didn't get wide acceptance among other Greek Philosophers. In addition to this there were no scientific proofs for the existence of these indivisible, tiny particles. The existence of atoms was proved experimentally in the 19th century by John Dalton. Now the correct and simple definition of Atoms is;
"The smallest particle of matter that can take part in a chemical reaction."
If you read this verse further then it also says that 'Nor is there anything less Than that, or greater'. Now this part of the word very clearly talks about particles smaller than atoms and we all know that in Modern Physics they are refered to as subatomic particles. These subatomic particles are electrons, protons and neutrons. Protons were discovered by Ernest Rutherford in 1919 which are positively charged. In 1897 JJ Thomson discovered Electrons. Electrons are negatively charged particles. Neutrons were discovered by James Chadwick in 1933 and they are neutral. These subatomic particles are further comprised of elementary particles such as quarks, anti quarks and leptons. A proton is comprised of two up quarks and one down quark while a neutron is comprised of two down quarks and one up quark. An electron is comprised of Leptons which is another elementary particle like quarks and anti quarks.
If we get back to the explanation of this verse than this part of the verse also tells us about things greater than atoms. These things can mean molecules and forms of matter that are larger than an atom. Physics tells us that atoms combine to form molecules which then further combine with other molecules to produce other forms of matter which we see in our surroundings.
Apart from this there are some other important things as well that are mentioned in this verse. If you read the first part of this verse where Allah says ;
'The Unbelievers say, “ Never to us will come The Hour ” : say, “ Nay ! But most surely, By my Lord, it will come Upon you ;—by Him Who knows the unseen,
In this part of the verse the Quran mentions about the denial of the the day of Judgement by the Disbelievers but Allah asks the Prophet Muhammad PBUH to strongly deny there false claims. It is a promise by Allah Almighty that he will bring the Day of Judgement. Allah does not lie and does not break his promise. The reason why The Day of Judgement will come is so that those who did good deeds in this life can be rewarded and those who were indulged in bad deeds can be punished. Another reason is so that we can know the difference between those who did bad deeds and those who did good deeds because Allah the all knowing already knows the difference between them. Another important thing to focus in this verse is the use of the Phrase 'by Him Who knows the unseen'. One explanation of this phrase can be that nothing in this universe is hidden from Allah Almighty because he is the creator of everything that is present in this universe infact one of the names of Allah is 'Khalaq' which literally means creator. As Allah is the creator of the Heavens and the Earths and whatever is between them so he knows the details of each of his creations. Another explanation of this phrase can be that Allah the all Knowing knows whatever good or bad deeds we do as nothing is hidden from him. All of our deeds are being written by the angels sitting on our shoulders known as 'Kiramin Katibin'. The angel sitting on our right shoulder is tasked with writing down our good deeds while the angel on our left side is tasked with writing down our bad deeds. As everything we do is being written down so we must do as much good deeds as we can and enjoin others to do good deeds. While doing this we should also refrain from doing bad deeds and stop others from doing bad deeds. All of these deeds will be shown to us at the day of Judgement and we will be held accountable for them in front of Allah Almighty. There is a very important line written at the end of this verse 'Is in the Record Perspicuous'. This Record Perspicuous is known as 'Lau Al Mahfooz'. This Record Perspicuous or preserved tablet is where every event occuring from the beginning of this universe to the end(Day of Judgement) has already been written. On that tablet Allah wrote the destiny of each of his creation when there was nothing present but only Allah Almighty.
There can be other interpretations of this verse as well but only Allah Almighty knows which one is correct because he is All knowing. All we need to do is to read and ponder upon these verses of the Holy Quran so that we can get to know about the wisdom of Allah Almighty and his greatness. One thing which we need to keep in mind is that Quran described various Scientific facts like this 1400 years ago which we are just starting to uncover now. It not only proves that Quran is the book of Allah because only Allah who is the creator of this universe can now these facts but it also proves that there is vast knowledge that is present in the Holy Quran. If we want to aquire this knowledge than we have to read and ponder upon the verses of the Holy Quran.
Views of Muslim Scholars on Atoms
Muslim theologians made this theory of Atoms also known as 'Atomism' the basis of the occasionalist relationship between Allah and the universe in which Allah is the only efficient cause.
Abu al-Huḏayl was an 8th century Muslim scholar. He is also known as the 'Father of Islamic Atomism'. According to him atoms are indivisible, homogeneous, and non-eternal, which contrasts with Greek atomists' belief in atom's eternal existence. He viewed atoms as the smallest indivisible particles and their function in a matter is, when some external attributes influence its activities. He considers that each atom also known as jawhar, does not have any qualities in itself except that of existing and occupying space. However, it accepts the qualities which come successively to inhere in it. Similarly there were also debates among Muslim atomists regarding the properties of atoms such as weight. Abu Ali al-Jubbai (d.303/916, Abū al-Qāsim al-Balkhī al-Kaʿbī (d. 319/931) and Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari (d. 324/935-6) upheld that weight is an essential property of the atoms just like the occupation of space. Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari who was the founder of the Asharite school is also credited with laying important groundwork for what would become one of the most sophisticated and influential formulations of Islamic atomism.
All of these scholars that I have mentioned above are from different eras and from different schools of thought. This shows that Muslim scholars not only acknowledged the existence of atoms but they also argued regarding the properties of atoms. When next time I will write on this topic I would mention some other great Muslim scholars who talked and argued in favor of the existence of atoms.
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