Stars, Universes, and Beyond: A conversation between Imam Jaffar al-Sadiq and Jabbir Bin Hayyan

A conversation between Imam Jaffar al-Sadiq and Jabbir Bin Hayyan:

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq, also known as Imam Jaffar e Sadiq (a.s.), and Jabir ibn Hayyan engaged in an enlightening conversation about the stars, those sparkling celestial objects that grace our night sky.

Jabir: “What are those shining stars that seem fixed in the sky yet constantly move?”

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.): “Each star is like a tiny universe within the vast universe. Think of it as a group of heavenly bodies, including a central sun and its accompanying satellites. These stars stay in motion to avoid falling apart. If their movement were to cease, the universe would come to a standstill. It’s this continuous motion that breathes life into the cosmos. Essentially, perpetual motion is life itself. Without it, life as we know it wouldn’t exist.”

Jabir: “How do stars appear in space? What shapes do they take?”

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.): “Stars come in various forms. Some are solid, while others are liquid or even in a gaseous state.”

Jabir: “But how can a gaseous state make stars shine? Can gases really glow like stars?”

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.): “It’s not all stars, just the really hot ones that adopt a gaseous form. Intense heat transforms them into gas and ignites their shine. Just like our sun, which shines because of its incredibly high temperature and is also in a gaseous state.”

Jabir: “What keeps stars from falling out of the sky due to their constant motion?”

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.): “Imagine swinging a stone in a sling around your head. The stone stays put as long as you keep it moving. Once you stop, it drops. Stars maintain their motion to prevent such a fall.”

Jabir: “Do other worlds, the stars, have inhabitants? You mentioned that stars are made up of various bodies.”

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.): “I can’t say for certain if there are humans in other realms, but I believe that unseen living beings might exist due to the vast distances between us.”

Jabir: “How can we know if there are beings on other stars?”

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.): “My belief rests in Allah, the Creator of the universe, who knows all. The Holy Qur’an mentions Jinns as beings beyond our sight. These unseen entities might exist in other realms, resembling us in some way.”

So, in this fascinating conversation, Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq and Jabir ibn Hayyan explore the universe’s mysteries, sharing their thoughts on stars, their motion, and the possibility of life beyond our world.

Many Different Worlds:

Another important theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) is that there are so many worlds that we cannot count them. Their number is only in the knowledge of Allah (SWT).

He divided these worlds into two groups: big worlds and small worlds. The only difference between them is their size. Whatever exists in big worlds also exists in small worlds, just smaller. And whatever is in small worlds is also in big worlds, but bigger. If we had the power, we could make small worlds bigger and big worlds smaller.

Scientist’s similar ideas about the expansion and contraction of space on the atomic level:

Scientists also talk about these ideas. If we could remove the huge distances between the parts of tiny things like atoms, the Earth would become as small as a soccer ball, but it would still weigh the same. It’s interesting to note that things like our Earth, which go around the sun, actually don’t weigh anything in space.

A long time ago, astronomers thought there were only a million galaxies in the whole universe.

But people like Eddington, who were scientists a long time ago, thought the universe was very small. They imagined the universe like a small cup of water compared to a huge, endless ocean. If Eddington was here today and saw things like quasars through special telescopes, he would probably change his mind.

Quasars and the Expanding Universe:

When scientists found quasars, they realized that what we see through telescopes – hundreds of millions of galaxies with billions of stars each – is just a small part of the whole universe. The real universe starts with quasars, which are about nine billion light years away from us. They say that if the real universe didn’t start there, quasars wouldn’t be so much brighter than our sun. Our sun makes light and heat by changing hydrogen into helium. But quasars do this way more in just one day.

Our telescopes aren’t strong enough to see beyond quasars, so we don’t know how really big the universe is. But we guess there are millions and millions of worlds out there that have been around for billions of years and will stay for billions more.

So, just like Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, no one except Allah (SWT) knows how many big and small worlds there are. In simple words, we don’t know them and can’t count them.

The Brightness of Stars:

According to Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), some groups of stars we see at night are much brighter than our sun. This idea seemed strange to people back then and even for many years later. They couldn’t believe these tiny specks of light called stars could outshine our big, bright sun.

After about 1,250 years, it turned out that Ja’far as-Sadiq was right. There are stars in the universe, called quasars, that are billions of times brighter than our sun. They’re incredibly far away—some about nine billion light years from Earth. The light from quasars is way stronger than our sun’s, about ten thousand billion times brighter.

The first quasar was found in 1927, and since then, around 200 have been discovered. These special stars are hard to study. Even the biggest telescopes aren’t strong enough to fully understand them.

Scientists in the 1800s and 1900s weren’t surprised by giant stars, but when they saw quasars through their telescopes, they were shocked! Quasars proved that Einstein’s idea that the universe’s diameter was three billion light years was wrong. The actual distance of nine billion light years is incredibly huge, and thinking about it is mind-boggling.

Light travels about 9.8 trillion kilometers in a year. To figure out how far quasars are, we have to multiply that by nine billion.

Quasars have puzzled scientists because their light is super intense. They can’t figure out why there’s so much energy inside them creating such bright light. Professor Alfven thinks that the only explanation could be matter and anti-matter exploding, which is a bit like when Russian scientists experiment with blowing up helium and anti-helium. This could not only give us tons of energy but might also help us understand the quasar light mystery.

Reference of the blog: “Stars, Universes, and Beyond: A conversation between Imam Jaffar al-Sadiq and Jabbir Bin Hayyan”:

The entirety of the content presented in this blog has been sourced from the book titled “Superman in Islam.” The information has been accurately rephrased by imamandscience.com. If you want to know about the book, its introduction, reviews, authenticity and many more, just click here: “THE SUPERMAN IN ISLAM: A BOOK ON IMAM JAFFAR AL-SADIQ (A)”

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