Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, as a chapter of upcoming book: The Quran and the Biological Evolution
Galileo Galilei famously said, “Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe.” Quantum mechanics is the theory that mathematically describes the behavior of the atoms and the subatomic particles and Einstein’s theory of general and spcial relativity provide the same at macroscopic level. In more recent pursuits, in the string theory physicists and mathematicians are seeking an equation that will harmonize the macroscopic and subatomic understanding and in so doing, they perhaps want to read the mind of God.
The expression Al Haqq الْحَقُّ appears more than 260 times in the Quran with different accents. It means the truth. Sometimes it is used in more specific meanings, for example it is one of the attributes of Allah mentioned in the Quran. It is often used for the prophet Muhammad, may peace be on him and also for the Quran. If we add a ‘B’ before it, then it means with or through truth or for a purpose, the Arabic then becomes بِالْحَقِّ. There are almost a dozen verses in the Quran stating that Allah created the universe بِالْحَقِّ. This has been generally translated as with good reason, truth, justice, wisdom, due authority or for a specific and a genuine purpose, but, a more apt translation in our age of physics and science can be ‘with mathematics.’ If nothing else the reader could consider it as a leap of faith on my part.
Now let us examine all the occurrences of بِالْحَقِّ as it regards to creation. The first of these verses that I want to examine is:
وَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ
“We have created the heavens and the earth and all that is between the two in accordance with the perfect truth, wisdom and mathematics.” (Al Quran 15:85)
This verse implies that the laws of nature are inviolable and that indeed was the underpinning that set the study of nature and the scientific revolution into motion. This is what humanity has been discovering in the last few centuries, in the field of physics, starting with Copernicus, Newton, Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr and 1979 Nobel laureate in physics Abdus Salam.
The discoveries of physics are always accompanied by mathematical proofs. No wonder majority of the mathematicians believe mathematics to have an independent reality and believe it to be discovered by humanity, rather than invented to explain reality of the universe.
Many mathematicians agree that the universe is governed by a singular order that is defined using mathematical principles. Consequently, even if the universe ceased to exist, all mathematical principles would still be true. Therefore, like other aspects of human nature, mathematics is part of human discovery. Furthermore, there are several mathematical principles that are yet to be discovered. When these principles are discovered, they will then assist us in building models that will give us predictive power and understanding of the physical phenomena we seek to understand. Therefore, math is a natural concept that is to be discovered and used by humanity. This argument is common among lovers of mathematics.
For example, Jim Holt, who is an American journalist, popular-science author, and essayist, wrote for the New York Times in 2008:
“A physicist, a biologist and a mathematician walk into a bar. Bartender says, ‘Any of you believe in God?’ Which of the three is most likely to say yes? Answer: the mathematician. Mathematicians believe in God at a rate two and a half times that of biologists, a survey of members of the National Academy of Sciences a decade ago revealed. Admittedly, this rate is not very high in absolute terms. Only 14.6 percent of the mathematicians embraced the God hypothesis (versus 5.5 percent of the biologists).
“But here is something you probably didn’t know. Most mathematicians believe in heaven. Not a heaven with angels, but one populated by the abstract objects they devote themselves to studying: perfect spheres, infinite numbers, the square root of minus one and the like. Moreover, they believe they commune with this realm of timeless entities through a sort of extrasensory perception. Mathematicians who buy into this fantasy are called “Platonists,” since their mathematical heaven resembles the realm of the Good and the True described in Plato’s “Republic.” Some years ago, while giving a lecture to an international audience of elite mathematicians in Berkeley, I asked how many of them were Platonists. About three-quarters raised their hands. So you might say that mathematicians are no strangers to belief in the unseen.”[i]
Another viable explanation of the existence of mathematics is that it is merely part of the human creation. According to Jim Holt in the above quote this will be a quarter of the top mathematicians. The argument about math being part of the intricate web of nature could be easily refuted by the view that human beings invented mathematics as a tool that could aid in the description of the physical world. Therefore, mathematics is only popular among human beings because it suits their needs when they are exploring the world.
It is also true that some mathematical concepts have been changed and altered for them to be palatable to human beings. If the universe ceased to exist, there would be no need for mathematics and it would not exist. Mathematics has been made possible by geography, astronomy, and physics among other areas of universal studies. Mathematics exists solely to satisfy the needs of studying and understanding the universe but it is not part of these studies. Therefore, mathematics is not something that is discovered but it is a human creation.
The assumption in the above paragraph that if the universe ceased to exist, there would be no need for mathematics and it would not exist is true only in an atheistic paradigm. If we focus on cosmology and how universe came to be then we know mathematics existed not in the consciousness of humanity, but in the mind of the All Knowing Creator. Just by assuming the possibility of an Eternal God the whole understanding takes a different shift. Mathematics then moves again from the category of invented to discovered.
Let us now examine all the verses that talk about Allah creating the universe with a purpose through mathematics. For the first few verses I will quote part of the Arabic to show that these all use the Arabic expression بِالْحَقِّ with a ‘B.” As stated before the traditional translations have translated this word with words like wisdom, truth and purpose. I have added mathematics given the development of physics and mathematics in the last few centuries:
قَوْلُهُ الْحَقُّ وَيَوْمَ يَقُولُ كُن فَيَكُونُ وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ
“And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mathematics; and the day He says, ‘Be!’, it will be. His word is the truth.” (6:73)
مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ ذَٰلِكَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ
“He it is Who made the sun radiate a brilliant light and the moon reflect a lustre, and ordained for it stages, that you might know the number of years and the reckoning of time. Allah has not created this but in truth with mathematics. He details the Signs for a people who have knowledge.” (10:5)
أَنَّ اللَّهَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ
“Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mathematics? If He please, He can do away with you, and bring a new creation.” (14:19)
خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ
“He has created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mathematics. Exalted is He above all that they associate with Him.” (16:3)
To justify my interpretation of the word Al Haqq as not only truth but also mathematics, let me quote two other verses of the Quran:
“He it is Who made the sun radiate a brilliant light and the moon reflect a luster, and ordained for it stages, that you might know the number of years and the calculation of time الْحِسَابَ. Allah has not created this but in truth بِالْحَقِّ. He details the Signs for a people who have knowledge.” (10:5)
The word الْحِسَابَ above has been translated as calculation of time but also means mathematics.
Allah describes the lunar motion as a source of calendar and mathematics and links it with his creation through بِالْحَقِّ mathematics. The field of mathematics and algebra were initially consolidated through study of astronomy by the early Muslim mathematicians, the most notable was Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi from whose book we get the word algebra.
The second verse clearly linking creation with mathematics is:
“And We have made the night and the day two Signs, and the Sign of night We have made dark, and the Sign of day We have made sight giving, that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the computation of years and the science of reckoning الْحِسَابَ. And everything We have explained with a detailed explanation.” (17:12)
Again, this verse is dealing with the creation of day and night or sun, moon and stars and the word used is الْحِسَابَ also meaning mathematics.
Going back to our main theme of the article. In the verse below Allah not only confirms the theme of بِالْحَقِّ mathematics that we are discussing here but calls such a study of cosmology a miracle and a Sign:
“Allah created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mathematics. In that surely is a Sign for the believers.” (29:44)
The biggest miracle that humanity has discovered in cosmology is the fine tuning of the universe to make it hospitable for life, consciousness and humanity, in the last few decades. In other words our universe is biophilic. This is topic of numerous articles, videos and books and is not examined here. The discussion of biophilic character not only covers our universe but also delves into the possibility of multiverse. I am merely adding a few references from the Muslim Times here.[ii] [iii] [iv]
Allah says that atheistic views arise hand in hand with the denial of accountability or Afterlife:
“Do they not reflect in their own minds? Allah has not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between the two but in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and and mathematics for a fixed term. But many among men believe not in the meeting of their Lord.” (30:8)
Allah predicts that our solar system will not last forever:
“He created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mathematics. He makes the night to cover the day, and He makes the day to cover the night; and He has pressed the sun and the moon into service; each pursues its course until an appointed time. Hearken, it is He alone Who is the Mighty, the Great Forgiver.” (39:5)
In the Quran, God’s creativity in our universe is intimately linked to the promise of accountability and Afterlife:
“And Allah has created the heavens and the earth with truth and mathematics and that every soul may be requited for that which it earns; and they shall not be wronged.” (45:22)
Allah not only talks about the earth and the heavens but also mentions what is between the two, like meteors and interstellar cloud or gas as in:
“We have not created the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, but with truth, and for an appointed term; but those who disbelieve turn away from that of which they have been warned.” (46:3)
The lawfulness and mathematics is not only a part of the creation of the inanimate universe but also life and creation of humanity itself:
“We created them not but with the requirements of truth, justice and mathematics, but most of them understand not.” (44:39) And: “He created the heavens and the earth with truth and mathematics, and He shaped you and made your shapes beautiful, and to Him is the ultimate return.” (64:3)
Bertrand Russell the famous mathematician and philosopher from UK, wrote in Study of Mathematics:
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty, a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show. The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than Man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.”
Eugene Paul Wigner (November 17, 1902 – January 1, 1995) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who also contributed to mathematical physics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles.
He wrote an article which has been very popular among the physicists and the mathematicians for more than half a century now, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences.” It was published in 1960 in Communication in Pure and Applied Mathematics. In it, Wigner observes that a theoretical physics’ mathematical structure often points the way to further advances in that theory and to empirical predictions. Mathematical theories often have predictive power in describing nature.
He concluded with the following paragraph:
“Let me end on a more cheerful note. The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. We should be grateful for it and hope that it will remain valid in future research and that it will extend, for better or for worse, to our pleasure, even though perhaps also to our bafflement, to wide branches of learning.”
The holy Quran also stresses the converse of Al Haqq or the truth as well, it is Al Batil. In the following verses Allah says that He did not create the universe through Al Batil, randomly or chaotically as if it was magical and not coherent:
“And to Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and Allah has power over all things. In the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of the night and the day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding; Those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth: “Our Lord, You have not created this in vain without the truth (Al Batil).” (Al Quran 3:189-191)
To me popping a statue of mud out of no where and magically changing it into a live and kicking human of flesh and bones, calling him Adam and then using one of his ribs, right or left to make a wife for him will not be Al Haqq, wisdom, truth or mathematics rather it will be Al Batil. Allah is indeed All-Powerful, according to the Quran, but He is also All-Wise and Al Haqq.
What do you think? What does the Quran say about the origin of humans? This leads us to the next chapter about the role of water in all life forms on our planet earth, especially humanity.
[i]https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/books/review/Holt-t.html#kbh :~:text=Only%2014.6%20percent%20of%20the,Most%20mathematicians%20believe%20in%20heaven
[ii] https://themuslimtimes.info/2024/04/04/what-do-fine-tuning-and-the-multiverse-say-about-god/
[iii] https://themuslimtimes.info/category/biophylic/
[iv] https://themuslimtimes.info/2021/11/21/ten-raised-to-five-hundred-reasons-for-our-gracious-god-5/
The Quranic Compassion 