Surah Al Baqarah (2:117) – Creation from Nothing, Allah is the originator of Heavens and the Earth

بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَى أَمْراً فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ

Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth, and when He decrees an affair, He only says to it, Be, so there it is

M Shakir's Quran Translation

To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: When He decreeth a matter, He saith to it: "Be," and it is.

Yusuf Ali's Quran Translation

Creation from Nothing

Word Analysis:

In this Ayat careful emphasis should be laid on the words 'بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ' meaning 'Originator of the heavens and the earth'. The Arabic word بَدِيعُ is used to describe creation from nothing and the Arabic word خلق is used to describe creation from something already present. Allama Ibn e Kathir says regarding the word بَدِيعُ:
"literally بدعت means to create something new, make something new". He explains ابداع as creation without any previous example and without the use of any other matter or substance.
(See Tafsir Ibn e Kathir 1/241)

'Big Bang', is the currently accepted explanation of the beginning of the universe. The big bang theory proposes that the universe was once extremely compact, dense, and hot. Some original event, a cosmic explosion called the big bang, occurred about 13.7 billion years ago (some books also mention 15 billion years), and the universe has since been expanding and cooling. American astronomer Edwin Hubble provided some of the greatest supporting evidence for the theory with his 1929 discovery that the light of distant galaxies was universally shifted toward the red end of the spectrum. This shift proved that the galaxies were moving away from each other. Hubble found that galaxies farther away were moving away proportionally faster, showing that the universe is expanding uniformly. Regarding the initial state of the universe there are several different theories but the reality is that this uniform expansion clearly shows that there was an initial state of 'nothingness' from which this universe has evolved.
Before the Big Bang, there was no such thing as matter. From a condition of non-existence in which neither matter, nor energy, nor even time existed-and which can only be described metaphysically. Matter, energy, and time were all created in an instant. This fact, only recently discovered by modern physics, was announced to us in the Qur'an 1,400 years ago. This creation from nothingness is mentioned in this Ayat of the Holy Quran. One thing needs to be clarified here that there are few terminologies which Quran uses interchangeably; a general term is used instead of a specific one. Therefore, we'll find many ayats speaking of the creation of the heavens and the earth using the word خلق. Another word used in the Quran to specify the creation out of nothing of the universe is فاطر. This word will be discussed under Surah Anaam 6:14.

Ayaat on 'origin' of universe from nothing:

Using the word بَدِيع: Surah Baqarah 2:17, Surah Anaam 6:101.

Using the word فاطر: Surah Anaam 6:14, Surah Yusuf 12:101, Surah Faatir 35:1, Surah Zumar 39:46, Surah Shura 42:11.

 

See the complete list of Scientific Miracles in Surah Baqarah here

 

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