The belief in life after death is universal; it is reflected in the teachings of all the major religions of the world, permeating culture and time. Despite tremendous scientific and technological advancement of the twentieth century, we know very little about life after death. What happens to us on dying? What is soul? Does it leave the body to enter the spiritual world, which is beyond human perception in some other dimension? Are the souls reincarnated entering some other body to be recycled again as in the beliefs of some eastern religions? Is the soul captured and kept somewhere until the Day of Judgment to be reunited with the body that rises from the grave? How can a body that had decayed and disappeared into dust, regain its original shape and form?

We live in a world that demands proof and is not just content with belief. The proof however, is only for the satisfaction of the believer, and belief comes from within our hearts. Even the greatest of proofs will not satisfy the non-believer, while the slightest evidence can be a great source of satisfaction for the believer. In this context let us look at the story of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be on him) given in the Quran. (Chapter ii verse 260.) Prophet Ibrahim wanted to know how Allah gives life to the dead. He had the faith of a man who was willing to sacrifice his own son for the sake of Allah, yet he wanted reassurance; which then was given to him in the form of a great miracle. Ordinary people like us are also in need of reassurance in a world where science and technology have assumed greater importance than religion. The Muslims are very fortunate in this respect as they posses the final revelation the Quran, a miracle for all times.

There is only one version of the Quran and it is the only religious book that even the critics of Islam admit was never altered since its revelation to Prophet Mohammed (Pbuh) fourteen hundred years ago. Scientific advancements have provided better understanding of many Quranic verses that may have appeared obscure in the past. The Quran accurately describes a variety of scientific facts that were discovered in the last one hundred years. This is one of the reasons that the Quran stands far above other religious books in its authority as a truly revealed book.

The Quran in many verses describes the future of the universe and The Day of Judgment. The verses appear to depict some great final catastrophe that will affect the whole universe. Many chapters mention the final earthquake, the opening of gates in the sky and "a time" in which mankind will see what they had done before so that they will become witnesses against their own selves.

This article explores the similarities between the Quranic description of The Day of Judgment and some theories of cosmology that predict reversal of time in the future with the beginning of the contraction phase of the universe. You will be surprised to learn that the religious contention that man will rise from the grave is not a myth or wishful thinking but is based on real scientific principles. Some words of caution for the reader that scientific ideas keep on changing, and this presentation does not in any way mean that this is the only way for mankind to come back alive. Allah has absolute power, when He wishes something to happen He just says be and it is.

The raising of clouds and the growth of plants following rain indeed appear miraculous and were considered as such in the past. Now we understand these as due to various natural laws. In the Quran the resurrection is compared to the physical processes such as the growth of plants after rain; this suggest that revival after death is also based on some physical laws created by Allah.

Following are the main themes of the Day of Judgment that are described in the Quran: (1): The final earthquake and the transformation of the earth into a hollow sphere. (2): Rising from the grave. (3): A time when our hands feet and tongue will become witnesses against us. (4): Opening of gates in the sky, through which every one will be removed to some other higher dimensions beyond the dying universe.

All of the above events can be explained on the basis of reversal of time and the accompanying reversal of gravity which the physicists believe, has to happen if the time is going to reverse. Sometimes in the future the knowledge of the Day of Judgment that is given in the Quran might become widely known and accepted as the truth.

To understand how the future of the universe is linked to the Day of Judgment, some knowledge of cosmology is essential. In the next few pages we will learn, how the universe began, what it is like now and what are the possibilities in the future.

Our solar system consists of earth and eight other planets that are orbiting around a star that we call the sun. The sun, along with two hundred billion other stars, comprises our galaxy "The Milky Way." The galaxies are shaped roughly like a disc, with the stars orbiting at various distances around a large central mass.

The universe is so vast that the distances between stars and galaxies have to be measured in "light years." A light year is the distance traveled by light in a year, at the speed of three hundred thousand kilometers per second. The distance between the earth and the sun is only eight minutes at the speed of light. Compared to this, the nearest star from the earth other than our sun, is four light years away. The galaxy we live in, "The Milky Way," is one hundred and fifty thousand light years across. This means that traveling at the speed of light, it would take one hundred and fifty thousand years to go from one side of Milky Way to the other. The galaxies on the average are separated from each other by ten million light years. Many hundred billion such galaxies are part of the truly gigantic universe.

The galaxies other than our "Milky Way" are moving away from us at tremendous speeds. This can be ascertained, by analyzing the light given off by the galaxies, by an instrument called the spectroscope. The more distant a galaxy is the greater is its speed of recession. This motion of the galaxies is due to the expansion of the universe. The universe began about fifteen to twenty billion years ago with a tremendous explosion called "The big bang" and has been expanding ever since. The universe is not just a sphere of galaxies rushing away from each other into unending emptiness of space. It can be compared to a balloon with many dots on it, each representing a galaxy. However, the surface of this balloon, which is two dimensional, represents all three dimensions of our space, and is expanding into a higher dimension, that is beyond our imagination.

It is not known if the universe will expand forever, or if one day it will begin to contract. In either case, the future of all the inhabitants of the universe could be rather bleak. If the expansion continues, after billions of years, all the energy of the sun and stars will be exhausted and every living thing will freeze to death. Eventually, only the expanding emptiness will remain. Alternatively if there is enough mass in the universe, gravity will one day stop the expansion and then contraction will begin. A contracting universe would ultimately end in a very hot and compressed state called "The Big Crunch." This would also destroy all life forms, as we know them.

Besides the above two depressing and purposeless scenarios of the future, there is an another possibility. Some physicists feel that time may reverse when the universe begins contracting. This prospect has a striking resemblance to the Quranic description of the Day of Judgment.

Now, let us turn our attention to the verses in the Quran that describe the beginning, the expansion and eventually the contraction of the universe. There is marked similarity between the Quranic revelation and recent discoveries in cosmology. The Quranic verses however, go far beyond modern cosmology in describing the future of the universe. The Quran gives us insight into laws of the universe that are yet to be discovered---the laws of the contracting universe.

The universe came into existence billions of years ago with a tremendous explosion called "The big bang." This is clearly mentioned in the Quran in the following verses:

The discovery of "The Big Bang" and that of "The aquatic origin of life" was made by the non-Muslims, ("those who disbelieve"). When the universe began all matter and space (heavens) was at one point (one piece). Then everything was separated in what the physicists describe as "The big bang." The evidence that the universe began in the "The big bang" is so overwhelming that it is now considered a fact and not just a theory.

The Universe has been expanding since its creation. Hubbell, an astronomer made this great discovery, in the early part of this century. It was also predicted by Einstein's theory of "General Relativity." The expansion of the universe is clearly mentioned in the following Quranic verses:

Time is one of the most elusive mysteries of the universe. No one knows what time really is. Albert Einstein explained time by saying that time is something that we measure with the clock. Time passes slowly within objects moving at speeds close to that of light and stops altogether at the speed of light. Time also slows near massive objects like earth, sun, very dense stars called the neutron stars, and almost stops inside the super massive stars "the black holes." Time has a direction, it always moves towards the future. We see rain falling from the sky, objects breaking up, people getting older, and people dying. We do not see a glass becoming "unbroken" or anyone returning from the dead. That could happen only if time ran backwards. Some physicists like Michael Berry, Thomas Gold, and Steven Hawking have proposed that time may reverse when the universe begins to contract. Verses in the Quran suggest that one day the universe will start contracting and this will coincide with beginning of the Day of Judgment and reversal of time.
 
 

In the above verse, "The Day" means The Day of Judgment and the contraction of the universe, is compared to the closing of a scroll. This is when time may reverse. Reversal of time will cause man to rise from his grave and again become alive. Every event will be replayed again as everything has been recorded in time.

As the history of earth runs backwards through time, nations will return one after another. All the good and evil deeds of the individual as well as that of the nations will be exposed as time reversal occurs.

The playing back of time will cause people to see what they had done previously. They will have no control over their hands, feet, mouths, and eyes. All the wrong and right things that were done before by them will be repeated again. In this sense, the mouths, hands, and feet, will become witnesses against them in front of the angels and Allah, and they will not be able to deny any of their wrong doings.

Man is given free will to choose between right and wrong in the expanding universe, that is, when all his deeds are recorded in time. In the contracting universe, there will be no free will, and no one will have power to help or harm others, or to change anything done in previous life.
 
 

Gravity is due to minute differences in time at different heights. Time passes at a slightly faster rate at the top of a mountain, as compared to the sea level. This difference in time, although imperceptible to us, is enough to make things fall to earth, and can be measured with the aid of atomic clocks. If time reverses in the contracting phase of the universe, then this time difference will also reverse. This will cause gravity to reverse so that everything will fall upwards, producing an earthquake of a magnitude never seen before. The earth and the mountains will be lifted up suddenly, and then come down crashing.

The reversal of gravity will cause the earth to literally explode and turn inside out. The mountains will fall apart. The red-hot lava will be thrown out lighting up the sky like molten copper

The reversal of gravity will cause earth to expand outwards, throwing out all of its insides. The mass of the earth however, will not disperse, reversal of time will be directing all the matter to return to its previous position in time. Thus, time and gravity will become two opposing forces in the contracting universe. A balance between these two forces will change the earth into a large sphere, empty from inside. The position of the sky will also change so that it will occupy the center of the hollowed earth.
 
 

The inner surface of the hollowed earth will be the exact-replica of the present day earth as time plays backwards. However, the outer surface of the earth will be made from the liquid lava that has been thrown out, thus it will become smooth without any mountains, hills, valleys or any kind of unevenness.

The following verses describe the Day of Judgment in a comprehensive manner. The Day of Judgment will start with the final earthquake as gravity reverses. The reversal of gravity will cause the earth to throw out all that was once inside her, thereby becoming, completely empty. The hollowed earth will have the sky towards its center. The people will begin to rise from the graves coming back alive, one after another, "in scattered groups". The history of nations will be played back. Mankind will be totally powerless caught in the backward flow of time. They will helplessly reenact and witness their own deeds of the past. This drama will continue until every single person is resurrected and removed to the beyond.

To an inquiring mind, it may occur that the time reversal may raise us from the graves. What will happen then? Will we continue to grow younger, pass through our childhood and regress into nothingness in our mother’s wombs? This is also what time reversal theories say, again a purposeless exercise. Well not quite so! The thought of the great and final earthquake may instill fear into our hearts, but the real purpose is to make the higher dimensions accessible for escape from the collapsing universe. Allah has designed the universe with great precision. After the resurrection, arrangements have been made, to escape the unrelenting effect of time reversal, to beyond this universe. To understand how that will happen we need to grasp the concept of higher dimensions and black holes in space.

Mathematically there are an infinite number of dimensions. However we only live in a three dimensional space. Every object in our daily lives has a length, width, and height. The concept that there are more than three dimensions is impossible to imagine. However, higher dimensions do exist as intense gravity near the sun causes the space to curve in an extra higher dimension. Einstein considered this for the first time and was able to accurately calculate the orbit of the inner planet Mercury. Einstein's theory of general relativity is based on the concept of higher dimensions.

We may gain some insight into the concept of higher dimensions by studying the problems faced by people in the past. There was a time when people believed that the earth is flat. They were afraid of the possibility of falling off the earth if they traveled too far. This cannot happen because the surface of the earth is curved and continuous like that of a sphere. To get off the earth we need to move in a dimension (direction) that is perpendicular to the surface. That is straight up, from anywhere we are. We face a similar conceptual problem in understanding the higher dimensions. We may imagine that we can leave the universe only by traveling very far, but that is also not true. Even if we traveled billions of miles, we will remain within the confines of our three dimensional space.

The only way to go beyond the universe is by moving into a higher dimension in a direction that is perpendicular to our three dimensional space, right from where we are. This is not possible now, as our space is not continuous with the higher dimensions. For that to happen, our space will have to literally be torn apart first and then be connected to the higher dimensions. This may happen only in the center of the black holes.

The opening of gates in the sky is a concept similar to that of black holes. Such openings can be the gateways to beyond the universe through the higher dimensions. Massive stars, which collapse inward under their own weight, can form black holes. Gravity in such objects is so strong that even light cannot escape and they become invisible. Hence, the name black holes. Physicists believe that space-time may be ripped apart in the black holes, producing gateways to beyond this universe. However, in the present expanding universe the mass of the black holes also obstructs the opening it is supposed to produce, thus preventing anything from escaping to the higher dimensions.

In the contracting universe, this problem should not exist. The reversal of gravity will change earth and all the heavenly bodies into massive hollow structures with empty skies at their center. Gravity of even relatively lighter objects like earth, focussed on the center-skies will have a run away effect. The fabric of space-time will torn forming portals or gateways to the higher dimensions. Physicists may question as to how this may happen. What will be so different then? On the Day of Judgment Time will be related to the contraction of space. A faster time in the center-sky will enhance the reversed gravity leading to more faster contraction of space which will in turn lead to even faster time. This self-perpetuating cycle of faster time and stronger gravity will eventually lead to rupture of space-time with formation of gateways to the beyond.

It is fascinating to note that Quranic verses are brief and yet so precise. The above verses tell us that heavens will be torn, as on the Day of Judgment it will be frail. This obviously means that it is not frail now when the universe is expanding. You may recall that Cosmologist believe black holes are produced by very massive objects. As the mass of the object is crushed into smaller and smaller space, the gravity is supposed to increase exponentially. Time reversal theory places a limit on that as intense gravity also retards the expansion of space and slows time. When the expansion is brought to a halt, gravity which is time differential cannot increase any further and there is no such thing as infinite gravity. This is a protective mechanism, which prevents massive objects from making holes in space and disappearing from the universe. It reaffirms what Quran says that black holes cannot form in the expanding universe (i.e. heavens are not frail now but will be on the Day of Judgment.)

Mankind will see many strange things in the contracting universe that may cause confusion, (When sight is confounded.) One of these is the rising of sun from the west, which is mentioned, in an authentic tradition of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). This phenomenon due to the reversal of time will be visible briefly, immediately followed by the final earthquake, which will change the earth into a hollow structure; from within which both the sun and the moon will not be visible. (The moon is eclipsed.) The gateways to beyond the universe will form in the center-sky, and may appear as a bright light constantly shining from straight above. This may cause us to wonder weather the sun and the moon have become one: (The sun and moon are united). This dilemma is probably mentioned in the following verses.

The stars will stop shining as the light moves back with reversal of time. They will also be hidden from view from within the hollowed earth.

As the gates open in the center-sky of the earth, a spectacular site will be seen. Thousands of angels will descend down on to the earth to accomplish the task assigned to them on the Day of Judgment.

Every single human being will be gathered before the ultimate demise of the universe in the fireball called the "Big crunch." The angels of "The grand descent" may accomplish the gathering and removal of humans to "The beyond". Quran reaffirms that no one will be left behind.

On our final journey through the portals in the sky, we may travel across many planes or dimensions. The word "ride" is used in the Quran, as if this journey will be accomplished by riding on "something."

As we leave this universe we may be collected together on some vast plane in an another dimension, every one will come from all times and places in history to face the judgment of their deeds and heaven and hell. This scenario is described in many traditions of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH.)

It seems that if we knew the rate at which the expansion of the universe is slowing, then we should be able to predict when the Day of Judgment will begin. If time is related to the expansion of space, we cannot observe the slowing of the expansion. As an example, consider a car with its clock connected to its wheels in a way that the speed of time would depend on the speed of the car. If the car slowed-down the clock will also run slowly and speed of the car if calculated, using the slowed clock would always appear the same. Similarly as the expansion of the universe slows, our time and our motion also slows, therefore the rate of expansion will appear the same. Paradoxically the expansion in the far-reaches of the universe which depends on the increase of total intervening space may even seem to be faster when measurements are made with our slower time.

Even the most advanced civilization in the universe would always observe that the universe is expanding at the same steady rate or even faster then with what it started. This means, that the beginning of the Day of Judgment cannot be predicted. Only Allah, who is independent of time, knows of the real timing of the Day of Judgment.

In the Quran, the soul is compared to consciousness and death is compared to sleep. Once death overcomes us there is no perception of the passage of time and the next thing that we see will be the Day of Judgment.

On The Day of Judgment, the reality of afterlife and the true religion Islam will become clear to everyone. Those who had indulged in evil deeds and followed false beliefs will wish that they had never existed; but they will have to face the final justice.

With the tremendous scientific advancements of the twentieth century, we have placed our trust in science and technology to solve all our problems. Dazzled by the ability of technology to produce quick results, our faith in Allah has become weak. Our actions are for worldly goals, although a stronger belief in Allah and fear of accountability in the afterlife could make us better people. We can see the consequences of lacking these in the moral decay that is afflicting many societies all over the world.

Allah has sent guidance to human beings according to the conditions existing at that moment in history. When the Pharaohs ruled, magic was a very popular pastime. Then Moses (Peace be on him: Pbuh) came with miracles from Allah and defeated the magicians of the Pharaoh's court. The people at the time of Jesus (Pbuh) were similarly deep into miracles, and we can see that the life of Jesus (Pbuh) is full of miracles. When Mohammad (Pbuh) came, the Arabic language and poetry was at the height of its development. The Quran with its clear message was revealed in the most eloquent poetry with a style unique and unmatched.

However, the Quran is a miracle and guidance for all times, therefore it is only appropriate to believe that it may be the source of the most exciting discoveries of the age of science. Science, with help from the Quran may discover what religion has maintained all along, that rising from the grave is going to happen.

There are many theories about the future of the universe. Despite a great deal of knowledge, scientists are unable to decide which one of these is correct. The belief that the universe has a purpose and the knowledge given in the Quran, may be the best guide in our search for the truth. I hope that Muslims will be in the forefront any such future discoveries.

Many verses in the Quran describe the Day of Judgment. We live in a universe that has been expanding since its creation billions of years ago. Both the birth of the universe with the "Big Bang" and its expansion are described in the Quran. Scientists do not know if the expansion will continue forever, or if one day the universe will begin to contract. However, the Quranic verses suggest that the universe will not expand forever and that the Day of Judgment will begin with the contraction of the universe. It appears that time and gravity will reverse when the universe begins to contract. Reversal of time will bring about the resurrection from the grave. In this time reversed world we will come across all the good and evil that we did in our lives. Reversal of gravity will be the cause of the final earthquake, mentioned in the Quran. This will change the earth so that it will be turned inside out and be transformed into a giant hollow sphere with the sky towards its center. The reversed gravity focused towards the "earth's center-sky" will have a runaway effect on space. The space in the center-sky will be literally torn apart to produce openings or gates to the higher dimensions that are beyond our universe. Through these openings, we will be removed from the collapsing universe.

Everyone will be taken away to escape the unrelenting effect of time reversal that could regress us to nothingness in our mother's wombs. In some higher dimension or plane mankind will be brought together from all times and places in history, to face the judgment for their deeds and hell or heaven.

It is worth noting that Day of Judgment is a universal event that will happen on every planet in the universe. No amount of earthly wars, atomic bombs, or hits by comets, or asteroids, will ever bring about the Judgment Day. From the Quran, it appears that the timing of the Day of Judgment will never be known and it may come at any time. We should be aware that The Day of Judgment is very near to every one of us as there is no perception of passage of time after death.

As we go through our daily life we should keep in mind that everything big and small that we do is being recorded in time. If we do not take steps to protect ourselves from evil, in addition to the threat of severe punishment, we stand the chance of great embarrassment on the Day of Judgment. The reversal of time will expose all our secrets.

I hope this article will serve as a source of warning as well as encouragement to the believers. They will realize that, The Day of Judgment is a religious, scientific and mathematical truth, which every one will have to face; and our deeds in this world will determine our fate in the eternal life. There is no doubt however that the real knowledge of the Day of Judgment is with Allah only.