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Life on Earth is becoming progressively more interested in life elsewhere. Other religions do not generally mention other nations let alone other planets, limiting their teachings to particular populations. Christianity is an interesting special case as its theology entails a cosmic kind of human exceptionalism which would become severely compromised if life elsewhere is discovered. As opposed to this, Islam is a religion that not only accommodates life on other planets but positively affirms it…


Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

PEACE BE UPON HIM

Mirza_Ghulam_Ahmad_(c._1897)

(1835-1908)

Are God’s blessings limited to a particular nation or planet? 

“Interviewer: I am a man of science and I see that the earth on which we live is very small. In comparison to thousands and millions of other kinds of God’s creation, the earth melts into insignificance. Why then has God’s blessing been limited to this earth or to any one religion or nation?

Promised Messiah (pbuh): Actually this is not correct, neither is it our belief that God reveals himself through a particular nation or sect. God does not have a special relationship or love for any one particular nation. What is correct is this, that God is the God of the entire universe and he has created the means of physical nourishment and development for all creation without any distinction and according to our principle he is ‘Rabb al-‘Ālamīn’ i.e. the nourisher and sustainer of all the worlds. He has created grains, air, water, light, etc. for all creation. Likewise, in every age and in every nation he has, from time to time, sent reformers for the reformation of people in those nations. As it is stated in the Holy Quran (Surah Fatir, verse 251) Allah the Almighty is God of all the worlds. He has no special relationship with any nation…

…We don’t propose that there is no system other than our earth and the sky. Rather, our God says that He is ‘Rabb al-‘Ālamīn’, that is, He is the sustainer of all the universes and that wherever there has been an inhabitation there he has sent His messengers. Lack of knowledge does not make something non-existent. God created such a vast system of provision for this small earth, why would he not have created provision for all other habitations?” – Interview with Professor Wragge, Part 1.


Does the Holy Quran mention extraterrestrial life?


Does extraterrestrial life worship God?

“All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise”

(Holy Qur’an, 59:25)

“The dwellers of the heaven and the dwellers of the earth glorify Him. This is an indication that the heavenly bodies are also populated and their dwellers follow Divine guidance.”Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, page 103


Mirza Tahir Ahmad 

MAY ALLAH BE PLEASED WITH HIM

HKM4 with RRKT

(1928-2003)

Does the Qur’an positively mention extraterrestrial life?

And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and of whatever living creatures (da’bbah) He has spread forth in both.

And He has the power to gather them together (jam-‘i-him) when He will so please.

(Holy Qur’an, 42:30)

Da’bbah covers all animals which creep or move along the surface of the earth. It does not apply to animals which fly or swim. It is certainly not applicable to any form of spiritual life. In Arabic a ghost will never be referred to as da’bbah, nor an angel for that matter. The second part of the same verse speaks not only of the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but it categorically declares that it does exist—a claim which even the most modern scientific researchers have not been able to make so far with any measure of certainty. Yet, this is not all that this verse reveals. Wonder upon wonder is added when we read at the end of this verse, that He (Allah) will bring together the life in the heavenly bodies and the life on earth when He so pleases. 

Jam-‘i-him is the Arabic expression in this verse which specifically speaks of bringing together of life on earth and the life elsewhere. When this meeting of the two will take place is not specified, nor is it mentioned whether it will happen here on earth or elsewhere. One thing however, is definitely stated: this event will most certainly come to pass whenever God so desires. It should be kept in mind that the word jama’ can imply either a physical contact or a contact through communication. Only the future will tell how and when this contact will take place, but the very fact that more than fourteen hundred years ago such a possibility was even predicted is miraculous in itself.The Qur’an and Extraterrestrial Life, Part IV; Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth.


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