ATOMS CAN BE DIVIDED
In ancient times a well-known theory by the name
of ‘Theory of Atomism’ was widely accepted. This
theory was originally proposed by the Greeks, in
particular by a scholar called Democritus, who lived
about 23 centuries ago. Democritus and the people
that came after him, assumed that the smallest unit
of matter was the atom. The ancient Arabs used to
believe the same. The Arabic word zarrah most
commonly meant an atom. In recent times modern
science has discovered that it is possible to split
even an atom. That the atom can be split further is
a development of the 20th century. Fourteen
centuries ago this concept would have appeared
unusual even to an Arab. For him the zarrah was
the limit beyond which one could not go. The
following Qur’anic verse however, refuses to
acknowledge this limit:
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا لَا تَأْتِينَا السَّاعَةُ قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ عَالِمِ
الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَا فِي
الْأَرْضِ وَلَا أَصْغَرُ مِن ذَلِكَ وَلَا أَكْبَرُ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ
“The Unbelievers say,
‘Never to us will come
The Hour’:
say, ‘Nay! but most surely,
by my Lord,
it will come upon you –by Him Who knows the unseen –
from Whom is not hidden
the least little atom
in the Heavens or on earth:
nor is there anything less
than that, or greater, but
is in the Record Perspicuous.’”
[Al-Qur’an 34:3]
This verse also refers to the Omniscience of God,
His knowledge of all things, hidden or apparent. It
then goes further and says that God is aware of
everything, including what is smaller or bigger than
the atom. Thus the verse clearly shows that it is
possible for something smaller than the atom to
exist, a fact discovered only recently by modern
science.
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