Bismillah ar-Rahmān ar-Rahīm
We built the universe with ˹great˺ might, and We are certainly expanding ˹it˺.
(Quran, 51:47)
Physicists believe that we have two “universes“: the observable universe which we know and observe from earth, and the whole universe which is the universe beyond our observable universe.
While our observable universe is mind blowingly gigantic measuring about 93 billion light years across, it’s still only a tiny subset of the whole universe which is infinite and which we know basically nothing about.
This concept could in a lot of ways be demonstrated through us and life. When a person says “in this life”, he’s just talking about the life he’s lived or observed, hence his observable universe, and not the whole universe. Despite how deep and filled with lessons and experiences his “life” might seem, it’s still nothing compared to Life with the capital letter L.
Our experiences make our minds create boundaries to “Life” as astronomers might create boundaries to the universe, limiting it to the observable universe, when in reality, a much larger universe exists— one with galaxies humanity has never imagined.
Stepping into the Nigerian medical world was like flying a couple thousand kms beyond my observable universe. Despite living in the same state my whole life with the people I meet, it feels like they belong to galaxies I had never known. The language while being the same, sounds a bit different, the behaviors are different, the cultures differ, and our realities are miles apart. My eyes have been open, by the will of Allah, to how much diversity could exist even within a state. How much more diversity exists interstate, internationally or intercontinentally?
As I fly back home to my planet and to my small circle of people on my observable universe after work, it would be illogical of me to make absolute judgements about Life, after having just a microscopically tiny taste of how humongous the whole universe could actually be.
Assalaamu alaikum.