I am of the opinion (and it is an entirely personal one) that, as a sentient species, mankind is totally and utterly alone in the universe. I have held this “belief” for many many years and it is something that I have given serious thought to. For me this is in keeping with the message of the Qur’an, maybe not explicitly but implicitly. Let me explain . . . the Qur’an (amongst other messages) tells mankind that we are the pinnacle of creation, man is the khalifa of Allah in creation, and that man is of great import and significance in the Divine plan. Now, coupled with this, the Qur’an (and the Sunnah) tells man to be humble, to realise that he is not, in fact, all that significant either, man’s very exisitence is by nothing other than The Divine Will. We are reminded by Allah of the fall of Iblis that haughtiness and pre-occupation with one’s self-importance debars us from the Realm of the Divine and therefore man takes his place in creation realising this.

OK so where am I going with this? Well the Universe and our place in it is symbolic of the Qur’anic message. The eminent significance of man is reflected by the fact that he is alone in the unimaginable vastness of the universe and yet how utterly insignificant he is that he is but a speck on the surface of another speck floating in space in a lonely corner of the cosmos.

wa’as-salam

Mas’ud
www.masud.co.uk