Jafar al-Sadiq and Science

[Ya Yamani]

Peace be upon you all,

I wish to present you the scientific achievements of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq pbuh, our 6th Shia Imam who lived in 8th century.

From the book - the Great Muslim Scientist and Philosopher Imam Jafar al-Sadiq pbuh, translated and published by Kaukab Ali Mirza:

"Learned scholars from Europe have been studying Islamic Literature from the beginning of the 17th century. It was only after the expansion of their universities that American scholars started doing research on Islamic subjects.

American and European scholars have written many books, after years of research, on Islam and great Muslim scholars. A number of them have been translated into Persian. I have translated some of them myself, which have been published in Iran.

Upto the Second World War, American and European scholars were not interested in studying the literature of Shias. It was only after World War II that they showed some interest in the Shia faith and its heroes.

The Research Committee at Strasbourg, which studied the life of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and published this thesis, is engaged in the study and investigation of all religions of the world, including Islam.

Members of the Research Committee, except the lecturers at the University of Strasbourg, are not permanent residents of that city. Most of them live in other countries and send their research papers to the office of the Committee periodically. As reported by one of the professors, who teaches Persian language in that university, the members meet every two years to exchange views.

Names of some prominent scholars, who are members of The Research Committee of Strasbourg, France, are as follows. Most of them are professors and lecturers of different universities in Europe and the United States:

Mr. Arman Bull, University of Brussels.

Mr. John Oben, University of Brussels.

Mr. Robert Brunswick, University of Paris.

Mr. Claude Cohen, University of Paris.

Mr. Henri Corbone, University of Strasbourg.

Mr. Tofiq Fahal, University of Strasbourg.

Mr. Fanciso Gabreili, University of Rome.

Mr. Richard Graham Lynch, University of Germany.

Miss Ann Lipton, University of London.

Mr. Evan Lenan, University of Chicago.

Mr. Henri Matisse, University of Paris.

Mr. Husain Nasr, University of Tehran.

Mr. Charles Pila, University of Paris.

Mr. Musa Sadr, Great Scholar, Sur, Lebanon.

Mr. George Wazda, University of Lyons, France.

Mr. Arna Ludz, University of Lyons, France.

Mr. Elyas,University of Los Angeles.

Mrs. Duran Hynch Cliff, University of London.

Mr. Joseph Manuz, University of Freebourg Germany.

Mr. Hans Muller, University of Freebourg Germany.

Mr. Hans Romer, University of Germany.

Zabih Ullah Mansuri, Tehran-Iran.

THE THEORY OF FOUR ELEMENTS

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had learnt physics from his father. When he was only 11 years of age he had attacked the theory of the rotation of the sun around the earth. At the age of 12 he rejected the Theory of Four Elements of Aristotle and proved that it was wrong. Criticising the theory he said, “I wonder how a man like Aristotle could say that in the world there are only four elements-Earth, Water, Fire and Air? The earth is not an element. It contains many elements. Each metal, which is in the earth, is an element.”

From the time of Aristotle, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), that is, for a period of about one thousand years, the Theory of Four Elements remained the cornerstone of physics. No scholar expressed his doubts in its accuracy. Yet a boy of 12 years of age from Medina raised questions and proved that it was wrong.

When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) grew up and started teaching in his Institute, he proved that Water, Air and Fire were also not elements. One thousand and one hundred years before the scientists of Europe discovered that air was not an element and separated its constituents, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said that air is not an element, but a mixture of many elements.

By sound judgement and reasoning it could be accepted that Earth is not an element, but it was not possible to believe that air is not an element. All eminent scientists after Aristotle, including the scientists of Europe of the 18th century, which was the golden age of science, believed that air was an element. It was only after Lavoisier separated oxygen from the air and demonstrated the important role it plays in breathing and combustion that they accepted that it is not an element.

In 1794, Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was beheaded by the sharp knife of the guillotine. Had he been allowed to live, he would have made many other important discoveries.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was one thousand and one hundred year ahead of his time when he discovered that air is not an element. Shias believe that he made those discoveries because he was an Imam and had Ilm Ladunni (divine knowledge).

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that there are many elements in the air and that all of them are essential for breathing. After Lavoisier separated oxygen and demonstrated that this is the element in the air which supports life, scientists thought that other elements play no part in breathing. It was quite contrary to what Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had said. In the middle of the nineteenth century scientists had to change their views about the part played by other elements in breathing.

By that time it was proved that although oxygen purifies blood it also burns combustible materials, which come in contact with it. If living beings breathe pure oxygen for a long time their breathing organs would be oxidized. Oxygen does not normally damage them because it is mixed with other gases.

Presence of gases that are in very minute quantities in the air is also essential for breathing. Ozone, which has the same chemical properties as oxygen, plays a very important role in breathing. It fixes oxygen in the blood. Without the presence of ozone, oxygen cannot purify blood and will fail to perform its function.

Oxygen being the heaviest of all other gases in the air would have settled at the bottom and covered the surface of the earth up to a certain depth. As a result, breathing organs of all animals would have been burnt and animal life would have become extinct. Moreover it would have cut off the supply of carbon dioxide, which plants need so badly, and made it impossible for them to grow on the surface of the earth. Presence of other gases in the air does not let oxygen settle down to the bottom and destroy animals and plant life. At last, after more than one thousand years the theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that presence of all gases in the air is essential for breathing was proved correct.

Today this theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) does not seem to be important, but in the 1st Century of the Hijra (8th century A.D) it was a revolutionary idea to say that the air is not an element. In Eastern countries, including the city of Medina, which was the city of the Prophet, such ideas could be expressed freely. But up to the 18th century such scientific ideas could not be expressed or tolerated in Europe. In the religion of Islam a Muslim cannot be accused of heresy if he said that the air is not an element, but the followers of many other religions believed in the purity of the air and water and considered them to be elements. It would tantamount to heresy if anyone of them said that the air was not an element.

Priestly was born in 1733 A.D and died in 1804 A.D. He discovered oxygen, but it was Lavoisier who found out its properties. It is said, although there is no proof, that Priestly gave the name of oxygen to this important gas. Oxygen is a Greek word composed of two syllables-oxy, meaning acidity and gen, meaning producer. Oxygen, therefore, means the producer of acidity.

The eminent scholar, Priestly, who cast off his clerical robe and came from the church to the laboratory, had made a great discovery. If he had not entered politics and continued his research, he would have discovered the properties of oxygen also. But politics removed him from laboratory work. He became a staunch supporter of the French Revolution. As a result, he was so hated in England that he had to emigrate to America where he wrote some books, but did not continue his research on oxygen.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was the first person to discover that oxygen produces acidity. We do not think that he had made that discovery when he was a student. Most probably he made that discovery when he had started his teaching career and had already discovered that oxygen is an element. He did not say himself that oxygen is a producer of acidity, but in the course of his lectures, he said that there are many elements in the air but only one of them brings about changes in different materials. It is the same element, which helps in combustion. Without the presence of this element in the air, combustion materials will not burn. He said that this element is so active and strong that if it is separated from air and produced in a pure form, it would burn even iron.

It has been proved by experiments that pure oxygen can burn iron, as was said by Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.). If we take a piece of red-hot iron and plunge it into pure oxygen, it will burn with a luminous flame. Just as in the old days people used to light a lamp by burning wicks in vegetable or kerosene, we can make our lamp by putting the wick of red-hot iron into liquid oxygen. This lamp will produce intense light and illuminate our house.

It is reported that once Muhammad al-Baqir, father of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), said in his classroom that by using scientific methods we can produce fire from water, which extinguishes fire. This remained a riddle till the eighteenth century when it was proved that by employing scientific methods, fire could be produced from water-a fire that is hotter than the fire produced by burning wood or charcoal. If hydrogen, which is a part of water, is burnt with the help of oxygen, which is another part of water, a flame of fire with a temperature of 667 degrees is produced. This process is called oxidation and is employed in welding and cutting metals.

There is no evidence that Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) had obtained hydrogen. There is also no proof that Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had obtained hydrogen or oxygen in pure form. But the experiments, which he had made, were not possible if he had not obtained oxygen in one form or the other. His following remarks are not his theories. They are the results he had obtained by making experiments with oxygen.

There is an element in the air, which is more essential for breathing, than others. It is actually the support of life.

It is the same element, which, in the course of time, and in most cases, by direct reaction, brings about changes in certain materials and putrefies them.

The words, “Direct Reaction”, must be kept in mind, in order to realize that the assessment and description on Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) of the nature of oxygen was quite correct.

After Priestly and Lavoisier had discovered oxygen and found out its properties it was believed that it was only oxygen, which, in the course of time, reacts with foodstuff. That notion changed when Pasteur discovered microbes and proved that putrefaction of foodstuff, dead bodies of animals and many other things is caused by microbes and not by oxygen. But Pasteur must have realized that microbes cannot survive without oxygen. Therefore, what Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had said is correct that in most case it is the direct reaction of oxygen, which brings about changes and in some cases it is an indirect reaction.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had also said that the element, which supports life, is heavier than all other elements in the air. It was a very important discovery. The world had to wait for about one thousand years till Lavoisier proved that oxygen is so heavy that in nine kilograms of water, there are eight kilograms of oxygen, while hydrogen, which is twice the volume of oxygen, is only one kilogram.

ROTATION OF THE EARTH ON ITS AXIS

Vasco de Gama, who discovered the route to India, Columbus who discovered America and Magellan, who tried to go around the world, had not undertaken their journeys to make discoveries. They had material benefits in mind. They knew that the earth is round, but there is nothing to show that they also knew that it rotates on its own axis.

When such a great scholar like Poincare (died 1912), who lived in the 20th century refused to believe that the earth rotates on its axis, how could the people who lived in he 1st and 2nd centuries of the Hijra believe in the theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that the earth rotates on its own axis.

Tycho Brahe, who died in the year 1701, belonged to a noble family of Denmark. Unlike Kepler of Germany, who was a pauper, Tycho was very rich and used to throw big parties. He had a vast knowledge of astronomy. Without his help, Kepler could not have discovered his three famous Laws of Planetary Motion. Tycho had discovered that the earth rotates round the sun. He could publish his theory because no branch of the Organization of Inquisition existed in Denmark, a Protestant kingdom. In spite of his vast knowledge and extraordinary intelligence he was unable to discover the earth’s rotation on its own axis.

The rotation of the earth on its own axis could be proved by observation only. When astronauts landed on the surface of the moon, and directed their telescopes towards the earth they observed that it was rotating slowly on its axis. In the beginning even space travellers could not see with their own eyes rotation of the earth on its axis, since they had no fixed station. They were travelling in their spacecrafts and going round the earth every ninety minutes or so. At that high speed it was not possible to observe the motion of the earth.

There is no star in our galaxy which does not rotate around itself. All of them follow the laws of mechanics which govern the movement of heavenly bodies. Our own sun also rotates on its axis and completes one rotation in 25 days. The laws that govern the rotation of stars makes our spaceships also spin in space.

When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) made that discovery did he know the Laws of Mechanics of the stars and did he know that when two forces work on an object in such a way that one force pushes it away from the centre and the other force pulls it towards the centre it starts to spin? He definitely knew about these laws when he said that the earth rotates on its own axis, which produces day and night. Without the knowledge of these laws it would have been impossible for him to make that discovery.

THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Some people might say that it was only by guesswork that Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said that the earth rotates on its own axis. But the question arises as to why no one else had guessed that for such a long time. This proves that he knew the laws of astrophysics, which enabled him to make that discovery. If he had not known those laws, it would have been impossible for him to discover the rotation of the earth on its axis. This discovery could not have been accidental. One must know the cause to know the effect. Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) did not say what led him to come to that conclusion, but what he has said in respect to many other problems of physics, are exactly according to modern theories of science.

His other wonderful theory is about the origin of the universe. When scientists read this theory they confirm that it totally agrees with the modern theory, which has not yet become a law of physics. It has the unique distinction that it was enunciated 12 centuries ago, but it agrees with our modern theory. It reads as follows:

“The universe was born out of a tiny particle, which had two opposite poles. That particle produced an atom. In this way matter came into being. Then the matter diversified. The diversification was caused by the density or rarity of the atoms.”

In the above theory two opposite poles are two negative and positive charges of an atom. The two charges were the cause of the creation of the atom. The atom produced matter. Varieties in matter are due to the presence of more or less atoms.

When Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was asked as to when the universe came into being, he replied, “No, I cannot tell you the date of birth of the universe”, he replied.

Shias believe that Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), who was an Imam had unlimited knowledge, and knew the date of birth of the universe, but he did not want to tell anyone. He remained silent not only in that case but in many other cases as well. Whenever he thought that it was not in our interest to know some of the secrets of Allah, he remained silent.

THEORY OF OPACITY AND TRANSPARENCY OF MATERIALS

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) made many discoveries in physics which no one had even dreamt of before him and no one could think of after him. One of the laws worked out by him is about opacity and transparency of materials. He said that materials which are solid and absorbent are opaque, and materials which are solid and repellent are more or less transparent. When he was asked about the thing which is absorbed by an opaque material he replied, “HEAT.”

Today this theory is one of the Laws of Physics. How wonderful it is that in the 2nd century A.H. (7th century A.D.) he could enunciate such a new and unique theory.

If we put the question to one hundred persons today as to why one substance is opaque and the other transparent, not even one of them will give the correct answer. According to the law of physics anything which conducts heat, electricity and magnetic waves is opaque, but those things which are poor conductors of heat, electricity and magnetic waves are transparent.

His discoveries were not confined to the field of science only. He made great contributions to other branches of knowledge as well. We shall discuss some of them in the next chapter.

COMPOSITION OF THE HUMAN BODY

Just like any other Muslim, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) also believed that human beings were made from the earth, but no one could dream either during his lifetime or after his death of what he has said about the composition of the human body. If anyone has said anything in this connection he must have heard it from him or from one of his students.

He said that whatever is in the earth is also in the human body, but of all elements four are in very large quantities, eight elements in small quantities and eight elements in minute quantities.

Henry Bergson, the French philosopher, said that every atom, which exists from the time of the creation of the world or the universe has knowledge of everything that exists on the surface of earth. Just like the atoms, every cell of the human body knows what is in the world. It also knows the history of mankind from the beginning of the world till today. Gaining access to the boundless field of the subconscious mind has been called by him as “The Leap Of Life.” He said that the Leap of Life of a genius is much higher than that of an ordinary person. He can make use of the knowledge which lies in the human cells.

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was either endowed with divine knowledge of the Imamate, as Shias believe, or his subconscious mind was linked to his conscious mind, as some people think, or else his “Leap of Life” was very big, as Bergson has said. Whatever may be the case, he was the only person among his contemporaries as well as those, who came after him, who had knowledge of the human body.

Twelve and a half centuries after his death his theory is confirmed today by science and there remains no doubt about its soundness and accuracy. What proves that he was a genius is his theory that out of all the elements which are in the human body four elements are in large quantities, eight in small quantities and another eight in very minute quantities.

The above theory has been proved to be quite correct. The four elements, which are in large quantities in the human body, are Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen and Nitrogen. The eight elements which are in small quantities are: Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Iron and Chlorine. The other eight elements which are in very minute quantities are: Molybdenum,

Cobalt, Manganese, Copper, Zinc, Fluorine, Silicon and Iodine.

DISCOVERY OF HYDROGEN

In his academy many new subjects were taught which had never been taught before. Since the books on those subjects were not available in Arabic, it became necessary to translate them into Arabic so that all students could benefit from them.

For teaching physics, chemistry and other science subjects there was a laboratory attached to his institute. It was a very small laboratory, but it was sufficient for the needs of his students.

It was not a miracle of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that he moved the mountain which no logical mind would believe, but his greatest miracle was that twelve and a half centuries ago he discovered the presence of oxygen in the air.

His father, Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.), who was also a great scholar, had discovered the presence of hydrogen in water. He had also found out that it was a highly inflammable gas. That is why he said that water could be turned into fire. Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) must have known about the presence of hydrogen in water through his father, but he himself discovered the presence of oxygen in the air.

We do not know if Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was able to obtain pure oxygen and hydrogen or not. The discovery of these two gases depended upon their separation from air and water. Separation of hydrogen from water was more difficult than separation of oxygen from air. Pure oxygen is available in the air, but pure hydrogen is not available anywhere. That is why hydrogen could not be obtained till sufficient power was developed and water was hydrolyzed.

We are surprised how Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and his father were able to discover hydrogen, which is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas and does not exist freely in nature. They could not have identified this gas and found out its properties without separating it from water through the process of hydrolysis, which was impossible without a strong current of electricity.

The first person who was able to separate hydrogen from water in modern times was the English scientist Henry Cavendish, who died in 1810 at the age of 81. After working hard for many years he was able to hydrolyze water and obtain hydrogen. On May 27, 1766 he placed a burning stick near a container full of hydrogen. Instantly it caught fire. The container exploded and fire spread everywhere. If members of his household had not rushed to his rescue, the whole house and its contents would have been burnt. He escaped with some injuries to his hands and his face. Through that bitter experience, Cavendish learnt that hydrogen is highly inflammable.

It was a general belief that water was nothing but liquid air because it evaporated in heat and became part of the air. Then it came down again in the form of rain.

Cavendish, through his experiments, proved that it was not liquid air, although he himself called hydrogen “Inflammable air.” It was Lavoisier, the French chemist, who gave the name of hydrogen to this gas.

In the time of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) electricity was not available. Had he and his father employed some other means, which modern scientists do not know, for separating hydrogen gas from water without the use of electricity? This great discovery was not possible through philosophical speculations and guesswork.

The pollution of air arising from excessive use of fossil fuel for producing energy has caused Americans to consider using hydrogen as an alternative source of energy. But the problem of separating it from water without the use of electric current has not been solved yet.

THEORY OF LIGHT

The greatest achievement of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) was his Theory of Light. He said that light reflected by different objects comes to us, but only a part of the rays enter our eyes. That is why we do not see distant objects clearly. If all the rays of light that come from them entered our eyes, objects would appear near to us. If we make a device through which all the rays of light coming from the camels grazing at a distance of 3,000 zirah (one zirah is equal to 40 inches) entered our eyes we would see them grazing at a distance of only 60 zirah and all other objects would look 50 times nearer to us.

It was this theory, which helped Lippershey of Flanker’s to make his first field glasses or binoculars in 1608. Galileo made use of these binoculars and invented his telescope on the 7th of January, 1610. When he directed his telescope towards the moon he was surprised to see that it has mountains, plains and valleys just as we have on the surface of the earth. It was at that time that he realized that earth was not the only world. The moon was also a world.

The period between the invention of the binoculars and the telescope was less than two years. Most probably the idea of making the binoculars and telescope entered the minds of Lippershey and Galileo at the same time, but it cannot be denied that Galileo leant a lot from the invention of Lippershey. He examined the binoculars, removed the defects which could possibly be removed at that time and made his telescope.

Galileo had studied in the University of Padua, Italy. After he completed his education he was appointed Professor of mathematics in the same university.

If Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had not formulated his theory of light, binoculars and telescopes would not have been invented and made and Galileo could not have confirmed through visual observation the theories of Copernicus and Kepler that all planets including the earth, rotate around the sun.

The invention of telescope created so much excitement among the people of Italy that the President of the Republic and the senators became interested to see the solar system through it. Galileo took his telescope from the University of Padua to Venice and installed it on the steeple of a church. Aged senators, assisted by others, climbed the tower to observe the planets and stars.

When Galileo was asked why his telescope made heavenly bodies seem so near that they could see the mountains of the moon, he repeated the words of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and said, “This telescope collects all the rays of light coming from the heavenly bodies. When all the rays are concentrated, the objects which are at a distance of 3,000 feet away appear to us as if they were at a distance of only 60 feet.”

In the time of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), industry had made no progress to enable him to make a telescope and observe heavenly bodies himself. Nevertheless it does not, in any way, reduce the importance of his theory. Could Newton, who discovered the laws of gravitation, send the apple which had fallen on the ground back to the sky and make it go round the earth?

The satellites which go to the moon, Venus and Mercury obey the laws of gravitation discovered by Newton, but he himself could not send any satellite to the planets.

Before the time of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) it was believed that light from our eyes falls upon different objects so that they could be seen. He was the first scholar who rejected that idea and said, “The rays of light from different objects come to our eyes and enable us to see them. The rays of light from our eyes do not go out and fall on other objects, otherwise we could have seen them in the darkness also. We see only those objects which are luminous. If they are not luminous themselves, they must reflect the light falling upon them from some luminous objects.”

It is reported that once, during the course of his lectures he said that a powerful beam of light could move heavy objects. The light which Moses saw at Mount Sinai was of that kind. It could have moved the mountain if God had so desired. It can be said that by making the above statement he laid the foundation of the theory of the laser.

The theory that a strong beam of light can move heavy objects was also mentioned in the past but the following theories are his own:

Rays of light are reflected by different objects and enter our eyes.

We do not see distant objects clearly because the rays of light coming towards us are scattered.

If the rays of light are concentrated by some device we can see distant objects distinctly.

Light is a kind of motion which travels as a very high speed.

A strong beam of light can move heavy objects.

TIME AND SPACE

Time, Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said, is the distance between two known events. It has no independent existence. It is only we, who feel that it exists.

Time is a very old subject, which was discussed by Greek philosophers, who believed in the physical existence of time have said that it is composed of very small particles. Those particles were so small that they could not be seen or touched. They were always on the move. They came from one side and went to the other. No one could feel their movement, but the changes made by their movement were noticeable in all the plants and animals.

They said that time was of two kinds. There was one type in which particles moved and passed away, making changes in plants, animals and humans. There was another kind of time whose particles did not move. They were just like the particles of sand and dust, which had settled down at the bottom of a pit and remained motionless. That motionless and stationary time was known as eternity.

In later periods also many philosophers refused to believe in the physical existence of time, but they did believe in the existence of space.

We must pay homage to Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), peace be upon him, who said 1,200 years ago that space has no physical and independent existence and is also subject to change. To a little boy the courtyard of his small house would seem quite big. However, if he leaves the house and comes back after an absence of 20 years, the same courtyard would look very small. He would wonder why the courtyard, which was so big has become so small.

How wonderful it is that his theories of time and space correspond exactly to the modern theories of physics, although they have not been expressed in the scientific terminology of today.

TRANSFER OF DISEASE BY RAYS

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that patients suffering from certain diseases emit special types of rays. If these rays fall upon a healthy person, they are apt to make him sick.

The above theory was not acceptable to physicians and biologists. They were of the opinion that microbes and viruses were the main cause of many diseases, which were spread by insects, air, water, food and direct and indirect contact with patients.

Before it was discovered that many diseases are caused by microbes and viruses and spread by insects, water, food etc. it was believed that diseases were spread by means of smell, which comes out of the sick person and steps were taken to prevent the spread of diseases through smell.

No one before Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), had ever said that diseases were also transferred from one person to other by means of rays, emitted from patients suffering from certain diseases. This idea was rather ridiculed by the learned people till it was proved to be correct by scientific studies.

In Novosibirsk, Russia, which is a centre of research for medicine, chemistry and biology, numerous experiments were conducted and it was established that:

The cells of a sick person emit many kinds of rays.

If a healthy person is exposed to the rays which come out of patients suffering from certain diseases, he may contract the disease, even if there has been no physical contact between the two.

Russian scientists took cells from different organs of a healthy person and divided them into two parts. They put one part of the cells in a jar of quartz, which shielded them from all kind of rays, except ultraviolet rays, and the other part in a jar of glass which ultraviolet rays cannot penetrate. These jars were put near another jar, which contained sick cells. After a few hours it was noticed that the healthy cells, which were in the jar of quartz, had also become sick, but the cells which were in the glass jar were not affected at all.

Five thousand experiments were conducted during a period of 20 years and each time the result was the same. Healthy cells were infected by the emission of ultraviolet rays from the sick cells and the sickness was, in all cases, the same as what the sick cells were suffering from. For instance, if the sick cells had toxemia, the rays coming from them transferred toxemia to healthy cells.

During experiments it was also observed that when sick cells were treated with antibiotics, the intensity of ultraviolet rays, emitted from those cells, was greatly reduced and they had no adverse effect on healthy cells placed near them.

The above experiments conclusively prove that cells of living beings are transmitters and receivers of ultraviolet rays and that certain diseases are spread by radiation from sick cells as Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) had said.

Those experiments proved to be very useful. The scientists and biologists learnt that if ultraviolet rays emitted by the cells of a sick person, are not allowed to fall on healthy persons, the spread of certain kinds of diseases can be controlled.

Russian scientists are collecting data of different kinds of rays emitted from persons suffering from various diseases and the intensity of photons of ultraviolet rays emitted by them. They say that it would help them in treating patients and controlling the spread of diseases. However, they do not say how it would help them in the treatment of patients.

Some experiments in this field were conducted in America also with the same results. The American scholar, who has done research on the subject and published results of his experiments in the form of a book, is Dr. John Oats.

The ill effects of ultraviolet rays on living tissues are well known. Ultraviolet rays, which radiate from the sun, would destroy all living creatures on the surface of the earth, if they are not protected by a thick layer of air.

Our knowledge about living cells and viruses is very scanty. We know only that viruses are extremely small beings and that they enter our cells. We also know that some medicines help us in our fight against viruses. However, we do not know how they enter the living cells. We also do not know why our cells become weak and old. If we know, we will fight against old age and remain young.

Russian and American scientists have discovered that sickness is transferred from sick cells to healthy cells by means of ultraviolet rays, but they still do not know how. So long as this remains a mystery, it cannot be said with certainty that the sudden outbreak of disease in some areas was due to radiation of ultraviolet rays.

MATTER AND ANTI-MATTER

One of the theories of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) is that everything, except Allah, has its opposite, but this does not result in a conflict, otherwise the whole universe would be destroyed.

This is the theory of matter and anti-matter, which has been discussed briefly before and will be discussed in some detail in this chapter.

The difference between matter and anti-matter is that in matter the electrons are negatively charged and protons are positively charged. But in anti-matter the electrons are positively charged and protons are negatively charged.

Scientists are of the opinion that if one kilogram of matter collides with one kilogram of anti-matter so much energy will be released that the whole world will be destroyed. But no one has so far conducted an experiment to find out what would actually happen if matter collides with anti-matter.

Before Americans exploded the first atomic bomb in 1944 it was believed that if an atomic bomb is exploded it would create such a chain reaction that all atoms of the world would disintegrate and it would be destroyed, but nothing happened and the pundits, who had made that prediction were proved wrong.

Scientists, however, argue that there is a difference between the explosion of an atomic bomb and one due to the collision of matter and anti-matter. When an atomic bomb or a hydrogen bomb explodes, part of matter is converted into energy. Only nineteen parts per thousand of matter of the atomic bomb, dropped on Hiroshima was converted into energy and the rest had gone to waste.

The countries that have exploded hydrogen bombs have kept details of their experiments as military secrets. We, therefore, do not know how much matter of a hydrogen bomb is converted into energy, but it can be said with certainty that no one has so far been able to convert 100% of matter of any kind of bomb into energy.

Professor Hans Olof Costa, an eminent astrophysicist from Sweden, does not think that explosion of matter and anti-matter can destroy the world. In his opinion our future source of energy is not atomic power, nor is it hydrogen from rivers and oceans, but it lies in the explosion of matter and anti-matter. He says that 50 kilograms of matter and an equal amount of anti-matter are quite sufficient to supply the energy needs of the entire world for one year. He calls this kind of energy Matergy.

Professor Alfven thinks that if half a kilogram of matter is exploded with half a kilogram of anti-matter it would create one hundred billion degrees centigrade of heat, which is much more than the heat in the heart of the sun. It is estimated by astrophysicists that the heat in the centre of the sun is about 10 million degrees centigrade.

The question arises as to how human beings can harness such tremendous amount of heat and use if for their needs. Professor Alfven does not consider it a big problem. He says that the production of heat can be controlled and reduced to a manageable level by having an imperfect explosion just like an atomic explosion in which only a part of the matter is converted into energy.

According to Professor Alfven exploding matter with anti-matter and producing energy is not a scientific problem, but it is an economic problem. A sum of ten to fifteen billion dollars is required to conduct experiments and explode matter with anti-matter. No country in the world is ready to spend so much money on such experiments.

Just as uranium was used for exploding an atomic bomb, helium would be used for exploding matter with anti-matter. Russian scientists have already obtained anti-matter of helium.

LIGHT OF THE STARS

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that among the clusters of stars, which we see at night, some are so bright that our sun, in comparison, is quite insignificant.

Because of man’s limited knowledge about stars, many people during his time and centuries after him, considered this theory to be illogical, irrational and unacceptable. They could not believe that these small specks of light, which are called stars, can have more light than the light of our big bright sun.

About twelve and a half centuries after the death of that great man it was proved that what he had said was quite correct. It has been discovered that there are stars in the universe, which are billions of times brighter than the sun. They are called quasars. The light of quasars is about quadrillion times (ten thousand billion times) the light of our sun. Some of them are at a distance of about nine thousand million light years from the earth.

The first quasar was discovered in the year 1927. About 200 quasars have been discovered so far. Astronomers need very powerful telescopes to study these wonderful stars. The world’s largest telescopes are not considered powerful enough for studying quasars.

Astronomers of the 19th and 20th centuries were not surprised when they discovered giant stars, but when they observed quasars with their telescope they held their heads with their hands lest they might lose their senses and go crazy.

The discovery of quasars disproved the theory of Einstein that the diameter of the universe is about three billion light years.

The distance of nine billion light years is a very great distance and makes one stagger to imagine the vastness of the universe. Light covers a distance of 9,800 billion kilometers per year. We have to multiply this figure with nine billion to find out the distance between the earth and quasars.

What has confused and puzzled scientists is the light of quasars. They fail to understand the cause of the power or energy within them which produces such an intense and bright light.

Professor Alfven is of the opinion that there is no other source in the universe, which can generate so much energy in quasars, except explosion of matter and anti-matter.

If the Russian scientists conduct an experiment and explode helium with anti-helium, mankind would not only have an inexhaustible source of energy, it would most probably solve the mystery of how so much light is produced in quasars.

MULTITUDINOUS WORLDS

Another important theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) is that there are so many worlds that we cannot count them. Their number is only in the knowledge of Allah (SWT).

He has classified them into big worlds and small worlds. He has said that the difference between them lies in their size only. Whatever is in big worlds is also in small worlds, but on a smaller scale. And whatever is in small worlds is also in big worlds, but on a larger scale. If we had the power, we could make small worlds big and big worlds small.

These ideas are confirmed by physics. If vast distance between the nuclei and electrons of atoms are removed, the earth would shrink to the size of a football, but weight would remain the same. It would not be out of place to mention that all celestial bodies, including our earth, which rotate round the sun, have no weight in space.

Radio telescopes not only scan the waves of light, which come from distant stars, they also search vast and limitless space for the presence of molecules. About thirty kinds of molecules have been discovered so far. Some of them are the building blocks of amino acids and proteins, which are principal components of cells of all living organisms. The presence of these molecules in outer space is a sure sign that life on this planet is not an exception, but it is widely spread throughout the universe.

It can be said with confidence that basic elements of life have always been coming to the earth from outer space. They were destroyed when the earth was hot and molten, but after it cooled down gradually and conditions become favourable, these molecules produced amino acids, protein, etc., which created the cell of living organisms including human beings.

Just as we have living beings on this planet, there must be living beings on many other planets in the universe where conditions are suitable. It is also possible that inhabitants of some of the planets might have been there for millions of years before we came into being and have solved all the problems which confront us today.

We hope that some day we be able to establish contact with the intelligent and sociable beings of other worlds through radio telescopes and make use of their knowledge and experience.

Archimedes, the Greek geometrician and philosopher, who lived three thousand years before Christ, considered an atom to be indivisible. He said that if someone wanted to find out the number of atoms in the universe he should multiply 63 times 10 by 10. Today we find that the number of suns in the universe is more than the number of atoms, as he had calculated.

Eddington (Sir Arthur Stanley), the English physicist, who died in 1944, has said that if we want to find out the number of atoms in the universe we should multiply 83 times 10 by 10. When he had calculated the number of atoms in the Universe by his mathematical formula, radio telescopes were not invented and the great telescope of Mount Palomar Observatory in the United States, which enables astronomers to probe the universe up to a distance of two thousand million light years, had not yet been constructed. It was the belief of astronomers at that time that there were only one million galaxies in the universe.

In the eyes of Eddington and other scientists of the 19th century the universe was very small. The universe of their imagination, as compared to the real universe, was just like a cup of water before a boundless and fathomless ocean. If Eddignton was alive today and had seen quasars through radio telescopes he would have definitely changed his views.

After the discovery of quasars, astronomers have come to the conclusion that one hundred million galaxies and billions of stars in each galaxy, which we see through our telescopes, are not within the boundaries of the real universe. They are only a few celestial objects scattered in the outskirts. The real universe begins from quasars, which are at a distance of about nine billion light years from us. They argue that if the boundaries of the real universe had not begun from there, quasars would not have ten thousand billion times the light of our sun. Our sun is nothing compared to quasars. It converts only four hundred billion tons of hydrogen into helium every 24 hours. It would continue to do so and give light and heat to us and to other planets for another ten billion years. But in 24 hours a quasar converts ten thousand billion times the amount of hydrogen converted by our sun.

Our telescopes are not powerful enough to enable us to see what is beyond quasars. Therefore, we do not know how vast the universe is. It can only be surmised that in the universe there would be millions of millions of worlds, which have existed for billions of years and shall continue to do so for billions of years to come.

We must, therefore, accept, as Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said, that no one, except Allah (SWT), knows the number of large and small worlds. In other words we, the humans, do not know them and cannot count them.

EXPANDING AND CONTRACTING UNIVERSE

A very interesting theory of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) is that the universe is not always in one and the same condition. In one period it expands and in another it contracts.

The phenomenon was considered for centuries as inconceivable and the theory remained quite incomprehensible to the leading astronomers.

After the 18th century, more and more powerful telescopes were built and astronomers could see beyond our solar system. They could also discover the components of stars by studying spectrums of their light.

It was in the beginning of the 20th century that Abbe Lemaitre, who was a priest and at the same time a Professor at the University of Belgium, noticed that many galaxies, which are close to our solar system and could be observed clearly, are gradually receding and scattering in different directions.

He communicated his observations to other astronomers, who were working in different observatories in the world and asked them to check whether he was correct or not. Confirmation was received from many observatories of Europe and America that Lemaitre was correct and that many galaxies, which are close to our solar system, are moving away from our galaxy and the distance between them are gradually increasing.

When World War II broke our, all connections between astronomers who were interested in the study of this strange phenomenon were severed. With the deaths of Lemaitre and Eddignton, the English physicist, further research in this field was suspended.

At the end of 1960 research work on the subject resumed. It was observed and confirmed by all astronomers that distance between our galaxy and the neighbouring galaxies are increasing. We cannot check and confirm whether it is happening to other galaxies as well. They are so far from us that we cannot observe them clearly through our present telescopes. However, these observations have provided sufficient proof that the universe is in a state of expansion.

Hundreds of years after the death of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) a part of his theory that the universe sometimes expands was definitely proved to be correct. We do not know when this expansion started. It must have begun thousands of years before he was born. The universe was actually in a state of expansion when he said that it sometimes expands and sometimes contracts.

The discovery of black holes has proved his other statement that the universe sometimes contracts. No one can imagine how much time these stars must have taken to condense and contract. It is real death of matter when it has no movement at all. Is it the fate and destiny of matter that it may finally die and become a black hole with such a deadly pulling force that even light waves cannot escape its death trap? Just as expansion of the universe is gradual, the contraction is also gradual. These stars have not collapsed and lost their identity overnight. Stars lost electrons and their nuclei adhered together over millions of years.

Every time the world wakes up and starts moving and expanding it produces better and better plants, animals and human beings. The dirty, the deceased and the decadent are discarded and destroyed and they never wake up and return. At the end of that period the earth starts shrinking and receding to its centre. Animals and plants start dying and disappearing till there is no trace of them at all. This is the period of sleep, rest and contraction. No one knows how long it lasts.

However, the soul of man does not die during the period of sleep and rest. It continues to improve and proceed from one state to another. Each time the earth wakes up, better and better human beings are born till they become perfect, go to paradise and attain eternal bliss.

POLLUTION OF ENVIRONMENT

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that we should not pollute environment otherwise it would become impossible to live on this planet.

Definitely he had our times in mind when he made those remarks. Pollution was not a problem in his time. There was not a single factory in existence and metals were smelted in small furnaces by burning wood.

It was during the 18th century that England, France and Germany started producing iron and steel in large quantities and chimneys of factory and furnaces began spewing smoke twenty four hours a day.

The environment is so polluted in Europe and North America due to industrial expansion that marine life in the river Rhine of Western Europe and the fresh water lakes of the United States and Canada are totally destroyed.

The pollution of air on the surface of the oceans poses a great threat to mankind. We do not know how long plankton, multi-cellular beings, which produce about 90 percent of the world’s Oxygen, can survive. They live on the surface of water.

If the quantity of oxygen in the air is reduced even by 10 percent, it would become difficult for us to breathe. The air would not support and sustain life and all plants and animals, including human beings, would die and disappear from the face of the earth. It is not a theory which may be right or wrong. It is a scientific fact which cannot be refuted.

It is estimated that if air pollution increases at the present rate for 50 years more, 50 percent of plankton will die and the quantity of oxygen in the air would be reduced by the same proportion.

Sea pollutants also pose a threat to the existence of plankton as well as marine life. When ships sail from Africa to South America, they pass through two thousand kilometers of water, which is full of waste material, produced by the people living on land. The garbage consists mostly of plastic materials, which neither break up on land nor in water.

Huge oil spills also drift and accumulate at this place and kill oxygen producing plankton.

Accumulation of waste materials in the oceans of the world is more deadly and dangerous than atomic weapons. There may not be an atomic war due to the balance of power, but destruction of plankton and reduction of the amount of oxygen in the air would be catastrophic for plants and animals including human beings.

We shall breathe with difficulty as if we are on top of the Himalayas. Every living being would always be panting as if something is choking and suffocating it.

For the lack of oxygen in the air no fire will burn and no one would be able to light a cigarette.

Workers and farmers would not be able to work in the factories and fields as they work today and students would not be able to concentrate on their studies in the classroom.

Pollution became a big problem from the time the first atomic bomb was exploded. The Super Powers started making and exploding bigger and bigger bombs and polluting the atmosphere.

The biggest pollution of atmosphere is radiation, which is a by-product of the fission of atoms in atomic power plants. Atomic power plants themselves are ticking time bombs. If accidentally the graphite core, which contains atomic fuel, bursts causing heat and radiation to escape, great havoc and destruction would be caused for thousands of miles around.

While atomic power plants are producing cheap electricity they are also producing the most deadly and dangerous material, radioactive waste. No one knows how to dispose of it properly. All scientists of the world are scratching their heads but cannot find a satisfactory solution to this problem.

HUMAN BEINGS SHORTEN THEIR LIVES THEMSELVES

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that human beings were born to live long, but they shorten their lives themselves. If a man strictly follows the dictates of Islam, abstains from things proscribed under Islamic law and does not indulge in excessive eating and drinking, which is condemned in the Qur’an, he is sure to enjoy a long and healthy life.

Without a shadow of doubt, longevity depends upon following the rules of hygiene and abstaining from excessive eating and drinking.

In the first century B.C., the average age of a person in Rome was 22 years, because the rules of hygiene were not being followed. In early part of the 20th century, the average age of the inhabitants of England was 50 years, because they had better hygienic facilities and they did not indulge in excessive eating like the people of ancient Rome. Hygienic conditions in European countries have improved so much today that the average age of a man is 68 years and the average age of a woman is 78 years. Life expectancy would increase further, when a cure for cancer is found and heart attacks and brain hemorrhages, which are due to blocking of the arteries, are prevented.

What increases the life span of a person is not the treatment of certain chronic diseases. It depends, to a large extent, upon his following the rules of hygiene and abstaining from overeating. However, a man would eventually die. When he becomes old and the main organs of his body are worn out, even the diseases which are curable will kill him unless old age, which according to some biologists is itself a disease, can be cured.

Pollution, which is a modern phenomenon, and poses a great threat to mankind, reminds us of the warning given by Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that it would become difficult for us to live on this planet if we pollute our environment. The World Health Organization has reported, after studying air pollution in some big cities in U.S.A. and Mexico that living and breathing polluted air of these cities has the same adverse affect on lungs and other organs of human body as smoking 40 cigarettes a day. That is why many inhabitants of these places are suffering from chronic ailments including lung cancer.

Another health hazard for mankind is sound pollution. According to statistics, constant sound shortens a man’s life. It is not correct to say that when a person gets used to sound, it does not hurt him. No one ever gets used to sound. It goes on, slowly but surely, damaging his nervous system and the cells of his whole body. Constant sound not only makes one tired and exhausted, it reduces his life span from 5 to 10 years. It is therefore, advisable that one should not live in a big city, if possible.

Another thing which shortens a man’s life is improper diet. The food, which is prepared in the factories and is consumed by the people of Europe, America and other industrialized countries, has many harmful ingredients.

It is reported that no one falls sick in Alaska, because their food is wholesome and healthy. It consists of milk, reindeer meat and white fish, which abound in the rivers of the north. They have only toothache and that also at a very advanced age. Most Alaskans have their full set of teeth up to the age of seventy or eighty.

GOOD ADVICE FOR MOTHERS

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has advised mothers that they should put their newborn babies to sleep on their left side. This is another proof that he was a genius.

For centuries this advice was considered by many as meaningless and absurd since no one could see any use in putting babies to sleep on the left side of mothers. Some people even went to the extent of remarking that it was dangerous to carry out his instruction. Mothers might take a turn while sleeping and crush the baby to death.

Muhammad Idris Shafei, who was born in the year 150 of the Hijra (772 A.D.) (Two years after the death of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) and died in 199 Hijra (821 A.D) in Cairo, was asked as to which side a mother should put her baby to sleep. His reply was, “There is no difference between the right and the left side. A mother can put her baby to sleep on any side she likes.”

No one in the East or West took that advice seriously. Even during the Renaissance period, when scholars in Europe studied every theory critically, no one tried to find out whether it had a scientific basis.

In 1865, Ezra Cornell, a financier and philanthropist of America who had suffered great hardships during his childhood, founded Cornell University in New York. In this university he set up, under the department of medicine, an Institute for the Research on newborn and suckling babies.

This institute has been conducting research on the subject for about a century. During that period every aspect and every problem of newborn and suckling babies has been thoroughly studied and investigated. No institute in the world has more knowledge and information about babies than this institute. It is impossible that any subject, which is connected with babies, has not been studied there.

In the first half of the 20th century research scholars of the institute studied 466 pictures of babies in all the famous museums of the world. It was noticed that in 373 pictures mothers were holding their babies in their left arms and in 93 pictures in their right arms.

A research scholar of the Institute, who traveled to different parts of the world, observed that mothers in every country carried their babies in the left arms. Those, who took them in right arms, were left-handed. They carried their babies in right arms so that their left hands might be free for carrying things. Women of Africa also carried their babies in their left arms; when they did not carry them on their backs.

No woman could give him satisfactory reply as to why she carried her baby in the left arm. Women in Africa knew that their babies like to suckle the left breast more than the right. Some women expressed surprise that their babies could easily find their left breast in the dark when they were hungry during the night. It was explained to them that babies were guided to the left breast by their mother’s heartbeat.

Doctors, who work and study general behaviour of babies in the maternity wards of the attached hospital, send their reports periodically to the Institute. These reports show that babies, who are put to sleep on the left side of their mothers, sleep soundly and peacefully but those who are put on the right side wake up every now and then and cry. It was also reported that for the first few days after their birth, babies would have no rest at all if they were not on the left side of their mothers.

Research scholars of the Institute expanded the area of their studies. They tried to find out whether babies of all races (other than the whites) also behaved in the same way, it was established that it was a general and universal rule, which applied to babies of all countries and all races of the world.

Research work on the subject was continued. Experts tried to study the behaviour of unborn babies in the wombs of their mothers through X-rays, but it did not produce any result and added nothing to their knowledge. After the invention of holography, holographic pictures of unborn babies were taken which revealed that the mother’s heartbeat reached the ears of the baby in the womb.

Experiments were conducted on different mammals to find out the reaction of the fetus. All experiments showed that whenever the heart of the mother stopped beating, the fetus became restless and agitated, because it feeds on the blood, which comes to it with each and every heartbeat.

These experiments proved that unborn babies are not only used to hearing their mother’s heartbeat, but their very existence depends upon them. Heartbeats mean to them a constant supply of food. Stoppage of heartbeats signals starvation after they are born; they become restless, if they do not hear it. A newborn knows its mother’s heartbeat quite well and that is why it sleeps comfortably and peacefully when it is on the left side of the mother and can hear the heartbeats clearly.

As an experiment, babies in the nurseries of the Research Institute were segregated into two rooms. Artificial heartbeats could be heard in one room but not in the other. Babies who were in the room where heartbeats were heard, remained calm, quiet and peaceful, but those, who were in the other room, started crying. Since then all nurseries have devices, which produce artificial heartbeats, so that babies may remain happy and contented.

Usually the heart of a healthy person, man or woman, beats about 72 times per minute. As an experiment, artificial heartbeats were increased from 72 to 100 and 120 times per minute. As soon as the number of heartbeats were increased all babies started crying. This experiment showed that any increase or decrease in the number of heartbeats is, to babies, an alarm of danger, which makes them cry.

It was also observed that babies, who were in the room where they could hear artificial heartbeats, had a keen appetite for food, took it with great relish and gained weight. But those who were in the other room, where no heartbeats were heard, had no inclination to eat and did not gain as much weight as babies in the other room, although all of them were given the same kind of food.

If Cornell University had not been established and the research work on babies was not done, no one would have ever realized the scientific importance of the advice of Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that mothers should put their babies to sleep on their left side.

THE THEORY OF PERPETUAL MOTION

Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that everything in the universe, including inanimate objects, is always in motion although we may not see it. There is nothing which is without motion.

This theory, which was unacceptable in his time, is a scientific fact today. It is impossible to imagine, explain and describe an object in the universe that is without motion. Motion is the essence of being. If there is no motion there is no existence.

He has stated that it seems to us that when a person dies, his actions and movements come to an end. It is not so. They will continue in another form. Even if the smallest particles of the human body are converted from matter into energy, they will continue to move in the form of energy till end of time.

He added that we feel the passing of time, because of our internal movement. Similarly our sense of space is due to this movement. Without it we cannot feel the passage of time and have a sense of space.

There are two kinds of motion in every object-motion inside the atoms and perpetual vibration within the molecules. The molecules vibrate from zero to ten trillion times per second according to the temperature."

[Phi for All]

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