There is a phrase in the Quran and it goes ...
"Ashrafal-makh-luqaat" ... and it basically means that "man is the noblest of creations..."
I was discussing this with a friend the other day but couldn't find a good answer.
If we are the noblest of creations - does this mean that there is no other life on other planets?
Why would God give us such a HUGE universe if not to explore it? Should we just accept ourselves as the only ones?
I suppose you have to understand Muslim / Islamic teachings to answer this ... or maybe have our own opinions...
But I'd like to know what people's opinions are on the Universe and God.
Thanks!
2007-10-28 23:17:17 · 10 answers · asked by Zin 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Daphne - Thankyou for that wonderful response.
I'm definitely not a raving Muslim - I was brought up as a Muslim and I'm proud to be one. But this is an open question and I'm looking for opinions - not judgments.
Each of us have to find out own answers - I've found mine (sort of). I still want to explore space - and find out what's there. It's the unknown that creates challenges for me.
Thanks to everyone for their opinions though. It helps me think from different perspectives! :)
2007-10-28 23:49:48 · update #1
hi there I'm Daphne, I read your question through this site and I was astonished that you were the first one i encountered such great question in life. In my opinion, its true that we are the noblest of creations because God made us perfectly through his image and likeness and not only that he made us to be capable of everything that other creations of his couldnt do. We may not know that there might be other species out there in that wide galaxy but surely maybe God gave us and made us explore a little of his creation out there. We are so lucky that God had chosen us to be part of his big plan. Think of the other positive traits that we have in our planet for instance, so much in the studies of the scientists says that we are the only ones who has a life-giving planet in the milky way galaxy. You dont really need to find the answers to such impossible questions in this world, you only need to ask God directly to why he would give us this and if its true. Once you ask him he will give you the answers that you had been looking for someday...hehe take care and God bless you always! from a friend of yours...Daphne.
2007-10-28 23:36:31 · answer #1 · answered by dApHnE aBeLLa 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Unfortunately, you won't get an answer to this from Q'rran or from Islamic scholars. You have to explore the oldest of oldest writings of other religions. If you confine to modern way of thinking, then you are doomed, as your mind is closed to the truth. So have an open mind, get the richest of religious preachings dating back to thousands of years. A life takes berth in the human body just like any other life in the nature, brought up as a social animal, attains wisdom and develops knowledge, becomes humane, humble and god fearing. What is humane is only the life in the body. The body without life is stinking from the very next moment life departs it, like any other life form. This is the one side. The other side is that a beautiful looking human body inhabitted by a devil stinks the most. Rest of the world would not be able to bear it until it dies.
We are just like a frog in a deep well. A few hundred year's of western science could not even take you to the nearest planet. The size of universe is still not known. What is black hole? Still different opinions.
So, don't forget that the Almighty is unable to do better creations than man.
2007-10-29 07:21:48 · answer #2 · answered by Raj 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is quite a notable difference between "life" and "man".
I remember talking to a Muslim I know a while back, and from what he told me, just "life" (bacteria, plants, even animals) elsewhere does not seem to be precluded by the Quran; it certainly isn't by the phrase you quote.
For life of humanlike intelligence, the phrase sounds potentially problematic.
However, I don't understand arabic; if the term "noblest" is an accurate translation with all its shades of meaning, it could be referencing ethical-spiritual qualities which are not necessarily correlated with IQ.
My acquaintance wouldn't dare tackle that one, I'm sure; that is a wise decision on his part.
2007-10-29 06:34:02 · answer #3 · answered by The Arkady 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot of people are going to have trouble with this one or just not like the idea of it, but here it goes.
What if God put men on more than just earth? If one way or another, through intelligent design evolution or something entirely different... God was able to put mankind on other worlds without us knowing. One day men descended from Earth will be born on the moon, mars and so on.
Would it be so wrong to think that men, descended from Earth or not are being born on other worlds now? Do these "men" even have to have ten toes and an appendix? Are those requirements to have been "created in the image of God?"
2007-10-29 06:28:00 · answer #4 · answered by Sam T 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God's Word, the Bible, declares that he created the universe to be inhabited:
Isaiah 45:18 -- For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the Lord, and there is no other."
However, that does not mean it is inhabited (beyond the earth) now! But will be in the future.
Romans 8:19, 21-23 -- For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
...
Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
These verses reveal that the universe has been corrupted and is presently unfit for habitation. Also, that it awaits the manifestation of the resurrection of the saints at the return of Jesus Christ. And therefore, its habitation will not start until after that time.
2007-10-29 07:04:16 · answer #5 · answered by BC 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man is the noblest of creations? no, I think man is one of the vilest of creations. We kill our own, we kill our friends, we kill our world. We reject our Creator in the name of wisdom. Are we alone? Probably. We know that our radio broadcast go on and on forever, we have been "listening" for about 60 years now, but not one peep. Why did God give us this huge universe? So we could enjoy the wonders of his creativity.
2007-10-29 06:37:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Qur'an was written by men... Men wanting to control men... Just like the Bible... Man is a living creature part of the animal kingdom... The End !
2007-10-29 06:35:33 · answer #7 · answered by bnv33 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
why is it that moslems feel the need to rave at length when they have little or nothing to say,,,my opinion on the universe is of no matter as i do not claim to understand it ,,,my opinion on god is that he she it is a figment of the unthinking imagination of unschooled men/women pure and simple
2007-10-29 06:28:20 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
God's ways are not mans' ways.
2007-10-29 07:00:28 · answer #9 · answered by ROBERT P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am so bored
2007-10-29 06:24:16 · answer #10 · answered by Heterodox Idiosyncratic Algerian 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋