By Babatunde Jose
Though we know not what Time is, we have found ways to measure it. We count our lifetimes in years, which— come to think of it—is another way of saying “orbits,” for that is what a “year” on Earth is: the time it takes, to complete one orbit around the Sun.
The way we measure time makes us wonder: would we live longer, would our life cycle be different, were we to live on another planet whose “year” is longer? Would we be “immortal” if we were to be upon a “Planet of millions of years”—as, in fact, the Egyptian pharaohs believed that they would be, in an eternal Afterlife, once they joined the gods on that “Planet of millions of years”?
Philosophers and scientists, contemplating the universe and offering modern cosmogonies, invariably end up discussing Time. Is Time a dimension, or perhaps the only true dimension in the universe? Does Time only flow forward, or can it flow backward? Is the present part of the past or the beginning of the future? And, not least of all, did Time have a beginning? For, if so, will it have an end?
Did the universe indeed have a beginning, perhaps with the Big Bang assumed by many astrophysicists, in which case Time began when the universe began?
Those who conceived the amazingly accurate Sumerian cosmogony, Epic of Creation, also believed in a Beginning (and thus, inexorably, in an End). They conceived of Time as a measure, the pacesetter from, and the marker of, a beginning in a celestial saga.
It must have taken great scientific minds to conceive of a primordial phase when “naught existed, when Earth had not yet come into being; and to realize that for Earth and all upon it the “big bang” was not when the universe or even the Solar System was created, but Celestial event. It was then, at that moment, that Time began for Earth—the moment when, separated from the half of Tiamat that became the Asteroid Belt (or “heaven”), Earth was shunted to its own new orbit and could start counting the years, the months, the days, the nights—to measure Time.
This scientific view, central to ancient cosmogony, religion, and mathematics, was expressed in many other Sumerian texts besides the Epic of Creation: A text treated by scholars as the “myth” of “Enki and the world order,” but which describes the moment when—Time began to tick for Earth.
We know from Einstein that my clock and your clock will not run at the same rate. Time (or rate of our clocks) depends on acceleration and/or gravity. So, time is relative.
Quran 22.47 compares time of Earth with time at Paradise/Hell (1 day vs 1000 years); while Quran 70.4 compares time on Earth with time in wormholes (1 day vs 50,000 years): *The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. (Quran 70.4).* Here angels will experience 1 day while humans will measure it as 50,000 light years. We therefore cannot contemplate or fathom the speed of travel of celestial beings.
There are at least four separate events in the Quran where time travel has been mentioned. A couple of these events are also recorded in the Old Testament. Interestingly, these events cover both kinematic and gravitational time dilation. They include Stories of the Sleepers of the cave; Throne of Sheba (Saba); The Night Journey (Isra wal Miraj) and ‘Parable of Hamlet in the Ruins.’
The greatest miracle of time travel occurred when Prophet Muhammad had night journey to Jerusalem and heaven called Shahb e meraj in 7th century which is mentioned in Surah An-Najm, Quran Chapter 53 but more explicitly in the Hadiths.
Other examples from the Quran are in Sura Al-Kahf (Chapter 18). The first story is about “People of The Cave” that they travel to the future by a black hole. The second story is about Moses and Khidr, in which Khidr travels back and forth in time. And the last story is about Dhu al-Qarnayn (The Man with Two Eras) Quran 18:83-101 that travels back in time.
The Quran also contain a parable that is one of the most popularly quoted and commented events in the Islamic tradition. It relates a person coming across a town in ruins and asking God if resurrection after such devastation was possible? Prophet Uzair (Ezra). The same event is also found in Judo-Christian sources which identify the person as Jeremiah. The Quran says:
*Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said: “Oh! how shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?” but Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He said: “How long didst thou tarry (thus)?” He said: (Perhaps) a day or part of a day.” He said: “Nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey: And that We may make of thee a sign unto the people, Look further at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh.” When this was shown clearly to him, he said: “I know that Allah hath power over all things.”(Quran 2:259)*
Looking at this story from the perspective of relativity theory, one can notice that the prophet and the objects mentioned herein remained spatially confined while time moved on. When he was reawakened after a hundred (lunar) years, he noticed that his food remained intact whereas the donkey had reduced to bones, almost fossilized. Time had moved differently for each subject (the person, food articles and his ride).
A scientific explanation of the event would yield the conclusion that each of them was perhaps bubbled inside separate gravitational fields. The magnitude of gravitational force for the food article being the highest greatly reduced the speed of its march forward in time.
This brings into focus the place of Angels, jinn and Spirits. For all intents and purposes, they are celestial beings. Because of their make-up, their conception of time is different from ours. This recalls the magical feat of the jinn in the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Solomon demanded that a jinn bring to him the throne of Bilkis, Queen of Sheba: *(27:40) “I will bring it to you within the twinkling of an eye!”* And in a split second the throne of Bilkis was brought from across 2,000 miles to Prophet Sulaimon.
We also remember Enoch the son of Jared and father of Methuselah, of the Antediluvian period in the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Enoch (apocryphal) describes in detail not one but two celestial journeys: the first one to learn the heavenly secrets, return and impart the acquired knowledge to his sons. The second journey was one way only: Enoch did not return from it, and thus the biblical statement that Enoch was gone, for the Elohim had taken him. The text of the Book of Genesis says Enoch lived 365 years.
The phenomenon of gravitational time dilation has been confirmed through many tests of general relativity. The faster an object travels, the lesser time it experiences. This phenomenon is known as relative velocity or kinematic time dilation.
The holy books are replete with such cases, and they need to be studied much more than the cursory attention we pay to them in Sunday schools and tafsr. The Yorubas say; what is after the figure six is greater than seven. But, upon all these, it is God that makes them possible since he is not limited by time or space.
*Barka Juma’at and happy weekend*
*Babatunde Jose*
