Shortly before his death, Stephen Hawking and his collaborator Thomas Hertog submitted a paper which crowned two decades of work into the idea of the multiverse. The paper made use of new mathematical techniques to study what is called string theory. The new conclusion reached by the joint work of the two above-mentioned scientists was that the multiple universes produced by the Big Bang must have had the same laws of physics and of chemistry as our own, something which indicated a marked departure from a much earlier position taken by the combined work of Stephen Hawking and James Hartle, which had suggested that other universes might be different from or similar to our own, with some enjoying similar laws of physics and of chemistry, while others had different such laws. The theory of the existence of the multiverse has been anathema to a number of scientists who have complained that it disregards the essential element of credible scientific inquiry, namely that it should be falsifiable. Such scientists explain that inability to disprove the existence of the multiverse means that such an assertion is scientifically unverifiable; in that case, they argue, one can only believe in the existence of the multiverse by means of a significant leap of faith, not unlike what many would need in order to believe in a particular theology.
There is an interesting debate among some Muslims regarding something in their religion that they see as somewhat akin to the modern idea of the multiverse. Islamists in particular point to a verse (Attalaq 12) in the Quran that claims God had created seven heavens and seven earths. Some Quranic exegetes, such as Al Qurtubi, maintain that the existence of the seven heavens is indisputable, especially because of the story of Al Mi’raj (The Ascension) in which Gabriel allegedly took the Muslim prophet up into each of the seven heavens where he met and spoke with other prophets. However, unlike their certainty about the nature of the seven heavens, Muslim commentators have disagreed as to the nature of the seven earths as mentioned in the Quran: Muslim commentators generally believe that each one of the seven earths has living organisms similar to those on our earth (people, animals, plants, and so forth). Nevertheless, those commentators have disagreed about other aspects of those earths, with some maintaining that they are very much like the seven heavens in that they are vertically arranged and, furthermore, are separated from one another by five hundred years of travel, while others hold that those different earths are actually horizontally arranged but separated from one another by vast oceans. The latter group of commentators, therefore, thinks that inhabitants of the seven earths can clearly see the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars, while the former group asserts that due to the vertical setup of the seven earths, the inhabitants of each have been provided by God with special sources of light and a different sky. Some commentators such as Ibn ‘Abbas reportedly said that each of the seven earths had prophets similar to the ones who had lived on this earth, such as Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Such allegations seem to be backed up by the fact that the said Quranic verse also informs Muslims that God lets His decisions descend upon those who inhabit the seven heavens and seven earths
The above-mentioned conception of the idea of the multiverse as developed by Hawking and Hertog may require a considerable leap of faith in order to engage in scientifically-based philosophical speculation. However, what appears to be the traditional Islamic conception of the multiverse as illustrated above does indeed necessitate an unbelievably gigantic leap of blind faith in order to maintain scripture-base theological mythology; it is a very short step from there to becoming absolutely convinced of the existence of seventy two celestial virgins eagerly waiting to reward each Muslim man for his martyrdom for the sake of Allah.
About the author
Husam Dughman comes from a family that is historically descended from Europeans on his father’s side and Middle Easterners on his mother’s side. He was born in Libya and educated in Libya and the United Kingdom. Before Qaddafi came to power, Husam Dughman’s father had been the president of the University of Libya and his maternal grandfather had been a prime minister. Immediately following Qaddafi’s military coup d’état in 1969, both stood up to the Qaddafi regime and were consequently imprisoned: Husam Dughman’s father was incarcerated for a period of 10 years, during which he was subjected to regular torture by the Qaddafi regime, and his grandfather was incarcerated for five years.
In the 1990s, Husam Dughman returned to Libya and worked as a university professor of political science. Due to conflicts with the Qaddafi regime, he resigned from his university position in 1997 and subsequently worked in legal translation. Years later, Husam Dughman left Libya for North America, where he has been working as a newcomer specialist, helping new immigrants and refugees with their settlement.
Husam Dughman has published a book, Tête-à-tête with Muhammad, and he has also published various articles about the Middle East. He is currently working on a new book on the Abrahamic religions and scepticism. You can find out more by visiting his website at http://www.husamdughman.com
