THOSE WHO DISBELIEVE IN THE END OF THE 

UNIVERSE
3- Those who disbelieved said, “There is no coming of the Hour for us.” Say, “No, by my
Lord, the knower of the unseen, it will certainly come upon you.”
34-Sheba, 3

50- If We give him a taste of mercy after suffering some adversity, he says, “This belongs to
me. I do not think that the Hour will come. Even if I am returned to my Lord, I will find in
Him better things.” Certainly We will inform the disbelievers of all their works and We will
afflict them with severe retribution.
41-Elucidated, 50

In the first part of our work we dwelt upon the creation of the universe. The time has come
now to examine the end of the world and the universe as expressed in the Quran. We are
fully convinced that there has been no other book in the entire history of mankind that has
given such a detailed account of the beginning and end of the world. Delve into all the books
in history preceding scientific data and you will see that there is none like the Quran. It was
said that the Quran would provide the signs and evidence; here they are, then! Will these not
suffice for someone who is unbiased?

It is man’s habit, confined in his own time bracket, to consider everything around him as
constant and static. At the time of the Prophet, speaking of the end of the world, and
especially of the universe, would be beyond conception. People ignorant of the fact that
the world was an object flying in space, considered it a safe and sound place under their feet.
They could not have believed that the day would come when everything would vanish.

As the accumulation of knowledge increased, thanks to scientific discoveries, it became clear

that the end of the universe and of our world was inevitable. No one of sound mind today
would assert that the world will exist forever. Even if no other celestial phenomenon occurs,
it is certain that once the energy of the sun is exhausted, the end of the world will become
unavoidable. However, the way and the exact time of this occurrence cannot be predicted.

To give you an example, the laws of thermodynamics indicate that the end will come. A
stove’s heating of a room; our leaving a cup of tea to cool down are subject to this law.
Especially Rudolf Clausius’s studies have led to the adoption of a measure of the unavailable
energy called entropy. The total entropy continuously increases in the universe. The sun’s
heat flows toward the cold of the universe and this process is irreversible...

LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS SEEN UNDER THE LIGHT OF

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
Will this process go on forever? The answer will be “No.” When heat reaches a constant
temperature, there comes about a static state called “thermodynamic balance.” The flow of
heat from the sun and from the multitude of stars may last for billions of years, but it is not
inexhaustible.

At the end of a time bracket, the laws of thermodynamics will make the activities going on in
the universe come to a standstill. Under the circumstances, we can make the following
deductions:

1- That the universe had a beginning, and

2- That it will come to an end one day.

All religions that have expounded belief in one God throughout history have been defenders
of these two arguments. The Quran had this to say about the beginning and end of the
universe. (In the first three chapters we read the miraculous statements of the Quran about
the beginning of the universe.) On the other hand, materialists claim that matter has existed
since eternity and will continue to exist forever and ever. In other words, they deny the
beginning that led to the idea of creation and the end of the world and the universe, the sine
qua non of religion. (In the two verses quoted above we saw the objections raised at the
time of the Prophet against him.) When, as a result of developments in astrophysics, it
became clear that the universe did have in fact, a beginning and an end, some atheists tried
to fit their theories to the new discoveries. However, it is evident that before this issue was
scientifically established, the atheists were against this idea. Nevertheless, despite the data
provided by scientific studies, there are still atheists who refuse to believe that the universe
had a beginning and that it will have an end.

The laws of thermodynamics confirm the assertions of monotheistic religions. This is then the
scientific evidence supporting the teachings of the three major monotheistic religions
regarding the end of the world. Had the universe existed since eternity, according to the laws
of thermodynamics, all actions in the entire universe would have come to a standstill by now
(according to thermodynamic balance). The fact that there is still action in the universe
shows that the universe had no eternal existence, but that it had a beginning. Given the fact
that there is still action going on in the universe and that it had a beginning, the end of the
universe must come- at least according to the laws of thermodynamics. However, it appears
that we shall not have to wait for the consequence of the laws of thermodynamics (We shall
come back to this point in Chapter 68 and 69).