At the center of man's arrogance was the idea that man as well as earth was at the center of the universe. The center, which if you were to put on a wide board would be the focal point of the picture. In regards to the universe through time, mankind has grew to accept the fact of the possibility of other life forms.  I remember from watching the movie Contact a quote stuck in my mind whenever one would ask whether life forms existed in the universe and the answer from the movie would be "Well if there weren't it would be an aweful waste of space."

However God in his infinite wisdom knows the extension of his creation and knows the myseries of creation therefore I will not further speculate on what that is. I do know is that such elements in which God used to make life here on earth are some of the basic elements which can compose life elsewhere. Given the right environment it is a possibility there life forms exist. Life forms which are perhaps more advance than ours.

The Earth is a young planet therefore it is ideal for any scientific theoriest to believe that if there were life forms, they would be much more advance than ours. But this thought is really scary to some who hold the conservative belief. To some mankind is the most precious of all God's creatures. Why is that? For some it is because we are the highest intellect, capable of constructing and reconstructing our environment. We are the only species that can adapt in almost any element, and I say almost because we have yet to adapt in some extreme conditions the Ice Age is an exception.

But I caution those who indeed look into their telescopes and ponder that creation which may exist by the will of god to think: Even if these ancient life forms in our universe do exist how do we treat such life forms if the time came for us to meet them or contact them? Are we advance enough to even get beyond our own petty differences? I ask these questions because before we can even ponder the beyond can we first go beyond our own limitations which are the imperfections set in society?

I'm sure any intelligent race that, at a distance studies our species they would perhaps think of us as primitive, not because of our technology but because of our interaction with each other. Sure, we can get along and sure our family unit can be strong, but the strongest element in the human kingdom is the unity among the people. In order for us to reach beyond our own capabilities we have to go beyond our created limitations, set by the perennial ignorances that plague us. Religion must be the forefront of our spirituality but humanity and the preservation of the human race must be our focal point.

But to adopt such an ideology we must also abandon what we hold dear which is the culture and the individualistic cultures of our socities. I believe we must abandon our isolationist belief sturctures and our pessimism. We are primitive and if I were a foreign life form intelligent enough to comprehend I would think the same way. It "sucks" because only an elite few of our race (meaning the human race) gets a chance to see the universe first hand. A few priviledge, with the right connections and enough money can travel to space and even for a brief moment can see a glimpse of the empty, but ancient space which God has created.

If only we as humans can come together and put our differences aside I believe we too can become an ancient race which has overcome the limiting obstacles of our society. But to ponder whether life exist I think we must come up with our own answers, but I for one believe life exist out there. If God can create diversity here, why not elsewhere? I say buy a telescope and look at space because it is like an symphony of continuous music.

Dear brother Israfil!

One thing I can tell with certainity is that there is life beyond our universe. As Quran tells:

36:36 Glory be to Him Who created pairs of all things, of what the earth grows, and of their kind and of what they do not know.

48:7 And Allah commands the hosts of the heavens and the earth and Allah is Mighty, Wise.

There are some other verses as well pointing to this direction as well. But I am not sure that whether we will be able to establish any contact with them or not. Perheps we may never! Anyhow this is only my assumption.

But let us not forget whether we would be or wouldn't be but our actions should be independent of the theory. We have to make this world a peaceful and loveable place. We are not animals and must prove ourselves as superior to them. Infact presently we are proving it the other way. Religion and Humanity are not two different concepts but rather humanity is embedded in almost all the religions.

What we need to do is that regardless of our theoratical concepts should live as humans who take care of physical needs and share these with each other, (infact this also happens to be the main teaching of Islam).

Unfortunately this is not happening. The capitalist co-orporates are literally draining the blood of the poor to fill up their bank accounts and making profits. Look at Africa, Latin America, Mexico, Asia, Eastren Europe etc, and look at the developed world, IMF, world Bank how they have plundered the poor people of these countries.

I do not know that whether someday we will be able to establish contact with the outer worlds or not or will we be embarrassed by that contact or not, but I know it for sure that one day we will be standing in front of God alongwith our deeds, and most of us will be standing with our head bowed down in utmost shame and despair if we didn't put ourselves right.

Shams Zaman   Pakistan.   

Assalam-alaikum

Can someone tell me what you think about the new scientific finding that ones DNA which is the sure and crucial link to one's identity can be found on so many things that the person has left behind? For instance cigarette butts, hair etc. Another great marvel of Allah's creation and we living in this age to be amidst this discovery, how do you view it?

Maryga

Our DNa is present in everything. In our skin, the oils of skin in our saliva in our blood, everything. So if we touch something the cells which mostly come from oil and skin are left on the surfaces of items or things we touch this case can be traced to us by certain technologies. This is surely nothing new as these methods are also used in law enforcement to either convict or free people.

This is surely nothing new as these methods are also used in law enforcement to either convict or free people.

Israfil, the decoding of the DNA stucture is not very old. It was only recent and the use of DNA so extensively is also recent. What surprises me is that DNA which is living is left behind on so many articles and places even after we are dead and gone. Who knows what further scientific discoveries will come out of it! We know that for cloning the scientists use somatic cells, but would a time come when just the DNA be enough! Perhaps I'm letting my imagination run wild. Anyway, for us Muslims this should re-inforce the fact that when scientific discovery can lead to reconstruction of an entire being, why should anyone doubt that when we are dust and bones we will not be put together by Allah's command!

I think that if the stem cell research can produce the desired results there is no need to produce humans by cloning.

There is never a 100% surety that the cloned human will be a healthy one. Secondly this issue needs to be seen in great detail in the light of following verses:

30:30 "Then set your face upright for religion in the right state-- the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is to be no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know."

4:119 "And most certainly I (satan) will lead them astray and excite in
them vain desires, and bid them so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle, and most certainly I will bid them so that they shall alter Allah's creation; and whoever takes the Satan for a guardian rather than Allah he indeed shall suffer a manifest loss".

So I think that cloning should not be supported.

Shams Zaman

Life is one thing, DNA is another.

Just because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has manifested life on this planet through carbon and water using DNA as a means of expanding it does not mean this is the only way in which life can exist.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created diverse worlds. Life is His creation as well, and He certainly has created life in forms appropriate to these other worlds. We might say the Sun is far too hot and violent to sustain life; but should He wish it, it would be a simple thing for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to create life forms that would find that environment suitable.

It would be ludicrous to assume there isn't the possibility of life on another planet.

I'm a botanist by trade and strongly believe in evolution.... in being so I am also fully aware (in my opinion) that we are here by a fluke of nature... man exists because he found a neiche when the dinosaurs died out, so it stands to reason things sould have worked out so much differently say if we were on the verge of extintion at that time....

Ketsup well that is of a different opinion. I don't see how a "fluke" can come from an organized system (putting the belief in Creationism aside). We talked about this in Philosophy and Evolution if you throw dice and gain a consistent amount of numbers is it a fluke? Please explain your position Ketsup (although it is off topic).

But I agree the universe is too vast to be dominated by a small species.

I was watching something the other day, can't remember what it was now, it was said that the reason or probably we haven't heard anything yet from outter space from other aliens despite countless satelites scattered over the place, is that they are not powerful enough. So what people are doing, the astonomers and scientists are doing is creating one big satelite by having smaller ones (in one area). When the satelites are all together and set up, they are all going to linked to make on big satelite that will (should) be powerful than any other stand alone satelite.

Interesting eh?

I thought it was/is absolutely cool  

Israfil wrote: Ketsup well that is of a different opinion. I don't see how a "fluke" can come from an organized system (putting the belief in Creationism aside). We talked about this in Philosophy and Evolution if you throw dice and gain a consistent amount of numbers is it a fluke? Please explain your position Ketsup (although it is off topic). But I agree the universe is too vast to be dominated by a small species.

Ok beliefs aside..

You are assuming it was organized in the first place...  what about if it wasn't?

Think about it.. the dinosaurs were happily doing what dinosaurs did until they were driven to extinction by a big rock... ok living decendents do still exist such as the crocodile which remains virtually unchanged.. because they adapted...  I don't for one moment believe the "rock" was planned, more that earth got in the way while it collided through space.

So we have the dinosaurs dying and dead all over the place.... now along comes the neanderthals (and a hobbit version whos name evades me at this moment)... they are happily plodding along doing what they do until this more advance version starts encroaching on them . being unable to compete and evolve quickly enough they die out just as cro-magnon man hits its peak. with the dinosaurs out of the way we are able to thrive.

Lets put this into modern day terms..

Red Squirrel V Grey Squirrel.

The red squirrel is a British native, been kicking around for years.  It is a fussy creature  that likes its nuts, fruit  etc fully ripe.  The victorians at the height of thier exploration intoduced greys as pets which ultimately escaped into the wild.  Now greys are bigger and more aggressive. They arent bothered if nuts etc are ripe or unripe so went into dirrect competition with the reds.  The reds couldnt compete and have been driven to extinction.. there are small pockets of them in places like Brownsea Island but thats about it.  Marwell Zoo bless them are doing a successful breeding programme so atleast we know they wont become extinct.  The last time I saw a Red in the south was about 20 years ago..

Any way.. had the grays not been introduced they wouldnt have been driven to extinction.. recently the threats are harlequin ladybird v the lady bird.. new zealand flat worms v earth worms.

Now what would have happened if the meteor hadnt hit?  Thing would have been alot tougher.. what if another animal found the environment  more compatible?

This is why I say we are here by fluke and any other animal could easily be dominating this world.. the meteor could have hit much later.. had it done so we wouldnt be here.

the human race and all life on earth is just a by product of the big bang.........god isnt going to create this universe just for life on earth.......

im sure there is much more life out there.......its just so far away we will probobly never find it..or it find us.....

evolution has been proven.......all races of human's came from the same thing.....we evolved in differant parts of the world as we spread out hence the fact that we have varying apperances........

our brains devopled in such a way that we became the dominate species on earth.........one day somthing else will take our place.......

we humans are not as important as some of us seem to think we are....

the universe may or may not have a "creator" but i firmly believe that life on earth is nothing more than a chemical reaction that happend due to all the matter and chemicals settling on earth with the right conditions to support carbon based life forms.....

i doubt"god" would even know we are here.......if he even exists

ak_m_f wrote: why are they teaching Intelli design Theroy?

why not?

its a theory and all theroys should be explored.

but it dosnt mean it is correct.....

im glad i dont have to follow a book telling me what i can and cannot believe.......im open minded and free........

ak_m_f wrote: why are they teaching Intelli design Theroy?

A sect are yes... would you sleep with your bother or sister?  No!!!  If you follow intellectual design then you believe we all started from 2 people...  there for any relationship how ever distant is incestuous.. thats disgusting!!  Imagine how shallow the gene pool is... thats like marrying your cousin.. gross.  Defects ahoy!!

craig hanson wrote: i saw a tv show about the planned new terrestrial telescope. there is supposed to be a new improved model planned. the putting together of many satellites is possibly new terrestrial telescope designs being built now. instead of one giant reflecting mirror [wich is very difficult to make], an array of many many mirrors is used.

mmmm,......something similar I said

ak_m_f wrote: Ketchup wrote: ak_m_f wrote: why are they teaching Intelli design Theroy? A sect are yes... would you sleep with your bother or sister?  No!!!  If you follow intellectual design then you believe we all started from 2 people...  there for any relationship how ever distant is incestuous.. thats disgusting!!  Imagine how shallow the gene pool is... thats like marrying your cousin.. gross.  Defects ahoy!! One more question, If Adam and eve were the first people. Then did their children married each other ? I mean how did the generation grew? (P.S: no disrespect intended)

I don't supposed they had any concept of marraige back then.. but if you take it as gospel that man started from two people then you can only assume there was a high level of inter breeding...

Israfil wrote: Ketchup one day you and I will have to sit and discuss your views on spirituality, in due time of course but for now I can see that we are at a crossroads here

We  have different beliefs which means we will always be at a cross road, that doesnt mean we can't get on with each other.