KHUTAB III - 21. SIR JAMES JEANS (1877-1946)

21. SIR JAMES JEANS (1877-1946)

Brothers in Islam,

          Long time ago, approximately in the 1920s, before the partition of the Indian sub-continent into India and Pakistan, there lived in Delhi a British scholar called Sir James Hopwood Jeans. He was born in London in 1877 and died in 1946. He was a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was graduated from the University of Cambridge.  From 1910 till 1912 he was professor of applied mathematics at Princeton University. He was well-known for his successful application of mathematics to problems in physics and astronomy. His original contribution in physics is on the kinetic theory of gases and forms of energy radiation; in astronomy, on giant and dwarf stars, the nature of spiral nebulae, and the origin of the cosmos. Among his writings for laymen are The Universe around Us (1929), The Stars in their Courses (1931), and Through Space and Time (1934).

On a Sunday morning, an Indian Muslim scholar Inayatullah Khan met him on the street on his way to the church, carrying his umbrella, although it was raining. When Inayatullah asked him why he did not open his umbrella, despite of the rain, he opened it. When he asked him, why such a great scholar like him, would like to go to church, he invited him to visit him in his house in the evening.

In the evening, ‘Inayatullah came to visit him. His wife led him to his study room. There the great astronomer explained the wonder of the universe to him: the planets, the stars and their locations, orbits and so on. Then he said that when he was observing this planets and stars and their wonderful systems he trembled with fear, amazed with this wonderful creation of God, and said, “Oh God, how great You are!” Then he said to ‘Inayatullah,

          “Now, you understand, O ‘Inayatullah, why I go to church.”

          “Your explanation is amazing, and it reminds me of one verse in the Qur’ān. I would like to cite it, if you like,” said ‘Inayatullah.

          “With pleasure,” said Sir James Jeans.

Then ‘Inayatullah cited the following Qur’ānic verse,

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ ثَمَرَاتٍ مُخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَانُهَا وَمِنَ الْجِبَالِ

جُدَدٌ بِيضٌ وَحُمْرٌ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهَا وَغَرَابِيبُ سُودٌ. وَمِنَ النَّاسِ وَالدَّوَابِّ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ

كَذَلِكَ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ (فاطر : ٢٧-٢٨)

 See you not that Allah sends down water  from the sky,

 and We produce therewith fruits of various colours, and

 among the mountains are judad [streaks] white and red, of

 varying colours and (others) raven [gharābīb]-black. And

 likewise, men and moving creatures and cattle are of

various colours. It is only those among His  servants

who have knowledge that fear Allah. Verily, Allah

 is All-Mighty, Oft-Forgiving.  (Q. 35:27-28).

These two verses tell us of Allah’s complete and perfect power of creation, namely, He created different kinds of things (human beings, animals, vegetation and mountains) with various colours, from one thing: water from the sky sent by Allah. With the same water Allah creates also fruits with various colours and tastes.

A similar verse dealing with this wonder of Allah’s perfect creation is as follows:

وَفِي الْأَرْضِ قِطَعٌ مُتَجَاوِرَاتٌ وَجَنَّاتٌ مِنْ أَعْنَابٍ وَزَرْعٌ وَنَخِيلٌ صِنْوَانٌ وَغَيْرُ صِنْوَانٍ يُسْقَى بِمَاءٍ

 وَاحِدٍ وَنُفَضِّلُ بَعْضَهَا عَلَى بَعْضٍ فِي الْأُكُلِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآَيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (الرعد : ٤)

And in the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of vines, and

 green crops, and date palms, growing into two or three from a single stem root, or otherwise, watered with the same water; yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat. Verily, in these things

 there are āyāt for the people who understand. (Q. 13:4).

Besides plants and fruit of different colours Allah mentions that these various colours are also found in the mountains. He said,

وَمِنَ الْجِبَالِ جُدَدٌ بِيضٌ وَحُمْرٌ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهَا وَغَرَابِيبُ سُودٌ

And among the mountains are judad [streaks] white and red,

of varying colours and (others) raven [غَرَابِيْب]-black.

There are white and red mountains; there are also streaks [i.e., thin and irregular lines] in some of these mountains with different colours. There are also very black mountains. The term جُدَد (judad) means, according to Ibn ‘Abbās, “pathways”. This is also the view of Abū Mālik, al-H.asan, Qatādah, and al-Suddī. The term غَرَابِْب (gharābīb) according to ‘Ikrimah means high and black mountains. This is also the view of Abū Mālik, ‘At.ā’ and Qatādah.

If you have ever seen the Ayers Rock near Mt. Olga, located 450 km Southeast of Alice Spring, that monolith (a single upright block of stone) is the largest one in the world. It is 348 metres high and 9 kms in circumference. As the sun shines on this rock during the day it changes colours: red, blue, pink, and brown. Tens of thousands of people visit it each year. No wonder, most of the people of Alice Spring earn their living in tourist industry, Allah’s blessing through this mighty rock.

Then Allah says that various colours are also found among living things, such as human beings, moving creatures and cattle. He said,

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ وَالدَّوَابِّ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ َذَلِكَ

And likewise, men and moving creatures

 and cattle are of various colours.

This various colours of man are mentioned also in another verse of the Qur’ān,

وَمِنْ آَيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ

 وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآَيَاتٍ لِلْعَالِمِينَ (الروم  : ٢٢)

And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth,

 and the difference of your languages and colours.  Verily, in that

 are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge. (Q. 30: 22)

Even the human beings, who are created of the same species, have various colours, races and languages. We have different colours, races and language, and no one is better than the other in the sight of Allah. What matters is our taqwá, faith and deeds. There are about three thousand languages spoken by people. The aborigines themselves have about 250 languages.  

The verse ends with

إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ

It is only those among His servants who have knowledge that

 fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Mighty, Oft-Forgiving.

He is so powerful that He could punish us any time, but He is also Oft-Forgiving, and keeps the door of repentance open while we are still alive.

What happened when Sir James Jeans heard this verse? He was amazed, and exclaimed,

What did you say? That only people who have knowledge

 that fear God? Amazing! Is it really mentioned in the Qur’ān?

 Muhammad was illiterate. Who told him the thing that took me

 over forty years of study to come to know it? [He had studied

astronomy over forty years]. It must be from God Himself.

This was the confession of the great scholar, Sir James Jeans. There are many other Qur’ānic verses which we shall deal with in due course. (ANUMA, 26 May, 06)