“The Qur’an does not mention the Big Bang???”

Some critics argue:

“The Qur’an does not mention the Big Bang. Modern Muslims only try to read science into it. The verse says Allah separated the heavens and the earth — but the earth wasn’t even there at the time of the Big Bang. And if the Big Bang is in the Qur’an, then the six days of creation would be fake.”

At first glance, this sounds like a strong point. But when we look carefully at the Qur’an’s language and compare it with what modern science has discovered, the criticism falls short.

The “Six Days” of Creation

The Qur’an indeed speaks of creation in six “days” (7:54, 10:3, 11:7). But the Arabic word yawm does not always mean a 24-hour day. In other verses, like 22:47 and 32:5, yawm is used to mean a long period of time — even thousands of years.

So “six days” is better understood as six stages or phases of creation, not six earthly days. That aligns perfectly with the billions of years modern cosmology speaks of.

“Heavens and Earth Were Joined, Then Separated” (21:30)

The verse says:

“Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder?” (21:30)

Critics ask: “But the earth didn’t exist during the Big Bang!”

The answer lies in Qur’anic language. “Al-ard” (the earth) here does not have to mean the final formed planet Earth. It can mean the primordial matter from which the earth was eventually formed. In other words, the basic cosmic ingredients that later became earth were part of that original unity.

This is exactly what modern cosmology says: all matter, galaxies, stars, planets, including what later became earth was once compressed in a single point before being separated.

The Universe as “Smoke” (41:11)

Another verse says:

“Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke (dukhan), and said to it and to the earth: Come together, willingly or unwillingly. They said: We come willingly.” (41:11)

Modern science confirms that after the Big Bang, the universe existed in a hot gaseous state. The Qur’an doesn’t use the word for simple “gas” (al-ghaz). Instead, it uses dukhan — smoke — which is a hot, dense, opaque state. Scientists today agree that “smoke” is actually a more accurate description of the early universe than just “gas,” because of its hot, fiery condition.

This level of precision, revealed over 1,400 years ago, cannot simply be dismissed as coincidence.

Science Caught Up Only Recently

It’s worth noting: in 1973, scientists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson won the Nobel Prize for discovering the cosmic microwave background radiation evidence that the universe began from a hot, dense state (the Big Bang).

What science discovered in the 20th century, the Qur’an had already described in essence more than a millennium earlier:

• The heavens and the earth were once a single entity (ratq).

• They were separated (fatq).

• The universe was in a smoky state (dukhan).

• Creation unfolded in stages (six days understood as phases).
  
  

The Bottom Line

So, does the Qur’an explicitly use the modern term “Big Bang”? Of course not —it speaks in timeless, universal language, not 20th-century physics jargon. But when its verses are read carefully, they resonate strikingly with what science has only recently confirmed.

Therefore, far from being “fake” or contradictory, the Qur’an’s description of creation demonstrates a remarkable harmony with modern cosmology, revealed 1,400 years before humanity even had telescopes.

                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                              - Mahin Bin Islam

Sources & Tools used in this article 

Introduction & Overview

Islamreligion.com; Wikipedia (Physics in the Quran; Quranic Cosmology)
Qur’anic Reference: 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, 22:47, 21:30 (ratq → fatq), 79:27–33,  41:11
Modern Source: NASA – Universe Timeline. Hawking – A Brief History of Time, Penzias & Wilson, Nobel Prize 1978
Contemporary Voices
Quran describes the Big Bang  (Dr. Jakir Naik)
Critical Perspective
Academic Journal paper
Rephrasing & decoration
Perplexity AI