Surah Al-Qaari’ah – Chapter 101 – Lesson No.5.

26^th October 1997 – 23/24 Jamadhul Thaani 1418 –

بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم

ربّ اشرحلي صدري ويسّرلي أمري واحلل عُقدة مّن لُّلساني يفقهو قولي

الحمد لله ربّ العالَمين والعاقبة اللمتّقين والصّلوةُ والسّلام على رسولك سيّدنا محمّد

وأاله وأصحابه وأهل بيته وأهل طاعتك أجمعين – أمّا بعد

أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرّجيم

بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم

الْقَارِعَةُ ¤ مَا الْقَارِعَةُ ¤ وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْقَارِعَةُ ¤ يَوْمَ يَكُونُ النَّاسُ كَالْفَرَاشِ الْمَبْثُوثِ¤ وَتَكُونُ الْجِبَالُ كَالْعِهْنِ الْمَنفُوشِ ¤ فَأَمَّا مَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ ¤ فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍ ¤ وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَازِينُهُ ¤ فَأُمُّهُ هَاوِيَةٌ ¤ وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا هِيَهْ ¤ نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌ ¤

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
1 The calamity! The Great Disaster
2 What is the calamity? What is the Great Disaster
3 And what will make thee know how terrible is the calamity?
4 The day wherein men will be as scattered moths,
5 And the mountains will be as carded wool.
6 Then as for him whose measure (of good deeds) is heavy,
7 He will live a pleasant life.
8 And as for him whose measure (of good deeds) is light,
9 The abyss is a mother to him.
10 And what will make thee know what that is?
11 A burning Fire.

In our previous lessons we indicated that if we are to review the past as ‘Cause’ and the future as ‘Effect’ when we evolve the equations for the system in the normal future direction in time, then when we apply the equally valid procedure of evolving the equations in the past direction in time must apparently regard the future as ‘Cause’ and the past as ‘Effect’.

Then in our last lesson we detailed out certain Hadithes which if just expressed as literal are never accepted by some people.  Actually these hadithes are not literal and they have specific meanings based on certain occasions, circumstances and these come within the category of Taqrir – where certain things are told by our Holy Prophet (S) to certain Sahabas according to their respective intelligence.

However, there is something else involved in our use of the terms ‘Cause’ and ‘Effect’ – which is not really a matter of- which of the events referred to, happen to lie in the past and which of the events in the future.

Let us imagine a hypothetical universe in which the same time-symmetric classical equations apply as those of our own universe, but for which behaviour of the familiar kind (shattering and spilling of water glasses) coexists with occurrences like the time-reverses of these.

1. Suppose that, along with our more familiar experiences, sometimes water glasses do ass-emble themselves out of broken pieces, mysteriously fill them-selves out of splashes of water, and then leap up on to tables;

2. Suppose also that on occasion, scrambled eggs magically unscramble and de-cook themselves, finally to leap back into broken eggshells which perfectly assemble and seal themselves about their newly-acquired contents;

3. Suppose that lumps of sugar can form themselves out of the dissolved sugar in sweetened coffee and then spontaneously jump from the cup into someone’s hand……..

If we lived in a world where such occurrences are commonplace, surely we would ascribe the ’causes’ of such events not to fantastically improbable chance coincidences, concerning corre-lated behaviour of the individual atoms, but to some “Teleological Effect” (Teleology: doctrine of the final causes of things:) – whereby the self-assembling objects sometimes strive to achieve some desired macroscopic configuration. “look!”, we would say, “it’s happening again. that mess is going to assemble itself into another glass of water!”

No doubt we would take the view that the atoms were aiming themselves so accurately because that was the way to produce the glass of water on the table.  The glass on the table would be the “cause” and the apparently random collection of atoms on the floor, the “effect” -

Despite the fact that the ‘Effect’ now occurs earlier in time than the ‘Cause’.

Likewise, the minutely organized motion of the atoms in the scrambled egg is the ‘Cause’ of the leap up into the assembling eggshell, but the ‘Effect’ of this future occurrence;

and the sugar lump does not assemble itself and leap from the cup ‘because’ the atoms move with such extraordinary precision, but owing to the fact that someone – in the future – will later hold that sugar lump in his hand!

of course in our world we do not see such things happen – or, rather, what we do not see is the -coexistence- of such things with those of our normal kind.  If all that we saw were happenings of the perverse kind just described, then we should have no problem.  We could just interchange the terms ‘past’ and ‘future’, ‘before’ and ‘after’ etc. in all our descriptions.

Time could be deemed to be progressing in the reverse direction from that originally specified, and that world could be described as being just like our own.     However, we are envisaging a different possibility – just as consistent with the time-symmetric equations of physics – where shattering and self-assembling water glasses can co-exist.

In such a world, we cannot retrieve our familiar descriptions merely by a reversal of our conventions about the direction of progression of time.  Of course, our world happens not to be like that – by why is it not?

To begin to understand this fact, we have been asking you to try to imagine such a world and to wonder how we would describe the happenings taking place within it.  We are asking that you accept that, in such a world, we should surely describe the gross macroscopic configurations – such as complete glasses of water, unbroken eggs, or a lump of sugar held in the hand – as providing ’causes’ and the detailed, and perhaps finely correlated, motions of individual atoms as ‘effects’, whether or not the ’causes’ lie to the future or to the past of the ‘effects’.

Why is it that, in the world in which we happen to live, it is the causes which actually do precede the effects; or to put things in another way -

Why do precisely coordinated particle motions occur only after some large-scale change in the physical state and not before it?

In order that we get a better physical description of such things – we shall need to introduce the concept of “Entropy”.  what is Entropy?

Entropy: is a measure of unavailable energy.

Energy still existing but lost for purpose of doing work.

A measure of heat-content, regarded as increased in a reversible change by the ratio of heat taken in to absolute temperature.

[Greek word – en means in, Trope' means turning - intended to represent 'transformation-content'.   Lexicon meaning].

Scientifically – simply defined as follows:

“the Entropy of a system is a measure of its manifest disorder.”

Thus:

The smashed glass and spilled water on the floor is in a higher state of disorder – high Entropy state than the assembled and filled glass on the table;

The scrambled egg is in a high state of disorder – higher Entropy state than the fresh unbroken egg;

The sweetened coffee has a higher Entropy than the undissolved sugar lump sitting in unsweetened coffee.

The Low Entropy state seems -

’specially ordered’ in some manifest way, and

The High Entropy state, less ’specially ordered’.

It is important to realize, when we refer to the ‘Specialness’ of a low Entropy state (specialty), that we are indeed referring to – manifest specialness (specialty) -

For in a more subtle sense, the higher Entropy state is just as ’specially ordered’ as the lower Entropy state, owing to the very precise co-ordination of the motions of the individual particles – for example, the seemingly random motions of the water molecules which have leaked between the floorboards after the glass has smashed are indeed very special: the motions are so precise that if they were all exactly – reversed – in time, then the original low Entropy state, where the glass sits assembled and full of water on the table, would be recovered.  But this is not the specialness (specialty) referred to as low Entropy.

Entropy refers to manifest disorder.

The order which is present in precise co-ordination of particle motions is not manifest order, so it does not count towards lowering the Entropy of a system.

Thus the order in the molecules in the spilled water does not count in this way and the Entropy is high.  And

The manifest order in the assembled water glass give a low Entropy value.

So  the Second Law of Thermodynamics asserts that the

“Entropy of an isolated system increases with time (or remains constant, for a reversible system”.

Remember we cannot count co-ordinated particle motions as low Entropy – for if we did – according to the definition , would always remain constant.  The Entropy concept must refer only to disorder which is indeed manifest.

For a system in isolation from the rest of the universe, its total Entropy increases, so if it starts off in some state with some kind of manifest organization, this organization will, in due course, become eroded, and these manifest special features will become converted into ‘useless’ coordinated particle motions.

It seems that the Second Law is like a counsel of despair. Because, it asserts that there is a relentless and universal physical principle, telling us that organization is necessarily continually breaking down. – a system in isolation

كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ

55.26 All that is on earth will perish:

This ayath shows the linking of physical system to psychology, pathology and aesthetic system of man.

Let us see  some Ayaaths from the Holy Quran to this effect :

وَمَا كَانَ النَّاسُ إِلا أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً فَاخْتَلَفُوا

10.19 Mankind was but one nation, but differed (later).

وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلا يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ

11.118 If thy Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one people: but they will not cease to dispute.

وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَكِنْ يُضِلُّ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَلَتُسْأَلُنَّ عَمَّا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

16.93 If Allah so willed, He could make you all one people: But He leaves straying whom He pleases, and He guides whom He pleases: but ye shall certainly be called to account for all your actions.

إِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُونِ

21.92 Verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me (and no other).

وَإِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاتَّقُونِ

23.52 And verily this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore fear Me (and no other).

وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلا تَفَرَّقُوا

3.103 And hold fast, all together, by the Cable which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves;

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

49.10 The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear Allah, that ye may receive Mercy.

Hadith

المؤمن مرئة المؤمن – و المؤمن أخوا المؤمن

A believer is a mirror to another believer – and a believe is a brother to a believer (Abu Dawood, Tirmizi)

يَدُ اللهَ حَعَ الجَمَاعَة ومَنْ شَذَّ شُذَّ فى النَّار

The Protective arm of Allah is on the Supreme United Community – anyone who moves away from this unity moves away into hell fire.

You have some indication that unity among the people is in line with the unity of the universe.  Once the ummah becomes divided, the division will become a system in isolation and will be subject to rapid breakdown.

But what precisely is the Entropy of a physical system?  we have seen that it is some sort of measure of manifest disorder,. But it would appear by the usage of terms ‘manifest’ and ‘disorder’ the Entropy concept could not really be a very clear-cut scientific quantity.

There is also another aspect of the Second Law which seems to indicate an element of imprecision in the concept of Entropy:  it is only with so-called ‘irreversible’ systems that the Entropy actually increases, rather than just remaining constant.

What does irreversible mean?

The systems that could be called reversible could be various carefully controlled situation in which energy is not lost into heat.   Basically the term irreversible just refers to the fact that it has not been possible to keep track of, nor to control, all the relevant details of the individual particle motions in the system.  These uncontrolled motions are referred to as ‘Heat’.

Thus ‘irreversibility’ seems to be merely a practical matter.  We cannot in practice “unscramble” an egg; etc..  though it is a perfectly allowable procedure according to the Laws of Mechanics.

Now comes the other question – Does our concept of Entropy depend upon what is practical and what is not?

You may recall from our previous lesson that the physical concept of Energy, as well as Momentum and Angular Momentum, can be given [precise mathematical definitions in terms of particle positions, velocities, masses and forces.

But how can we be expected to do so in the case of 'manifest disorder'? – How can we make the concept of Entropy, mathematically precise?

What is manifest to one observer may not be so to another.  Then -

Would it not depend upon the precision with which each observer might be able to measure the system under examination?

With better measuring instruments one observer might be able to get much more detailed information about the microscopic constituents of a system than would another observer.

the 'hidden order' in the system might be manifest to one observer than to the other -accordingly, he would ascertain the Entropy as being lower than would the other.

كَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا فِيكُمْ رَسُولا مِنْكُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِنَا وَيُزَكِّيكُمْ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمْ مَا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ

2.151 A similar (favour have ye already received) in that We have sent among you a Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our Signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and Wisdom, and in new knowledge.

يُؤْتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلا أُولُو الألْبَابِ

2.269 He grants wisdom to whom He pleases; and he to whom wisdom is granted receives indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding.

Again, the various observers' aesthetic judgements might well get involved in what they deem to be 'Order' and 'Disorder'.

We could imagine some artists taking the view that the collection of shattered glass fragments was far more beautifully ordered than was the hideously ugly glass tumbler that once stood on the edge of the table !

Would Entropy have actually been reduced in the judgement of such an artistically sensitive observer?

You can see that in view of these problems of subjectivity, it is remarkable that the concept of Entropy is useful at all in precise scientific descriptions - which it certainly is!

the reason for this utility is that the changes from order to disorder in a system, in terms of detailed particle positions and velocities are utterly enormous, and in almost all circumstances will completely swamp any reasonable differences of viewpoint as to what is or is not 'manifest order' on the macroscopic scale.

In particular, the artist's or scientist's judgement as to whether it is the assembled or shattered glass which is the more orderly arrangement is of almost no consequence whatever, with regard to its Entropy measure.  By far the main contribution to the Entropy comes from the random particle motions which constitute the tiny raising of temperature, and dispersion of water, as the glass and water hit the ground.

These are subject to what are referred to in science as - Phase-Space, Maxwellian Distributuion, Thermal Equillibrium, )  - Since beyond the scope of understanding of an ordinary layman – let us give you a practical scientific example and hope you understand the meanings and concepts of these jaw-breaking scientific terminology.

Take for example - Actual gas in a box - let us say the gas occupies one cubic centi-metre in one cubic metre that means - the special region that this gas occupies is 1/1 million to the power m - (where 'm' -atom gas)

For ordinary air, there would be about 10 to the power 25 molecules in our box as a whole, so we take m = 10 to the power 25

Thus the special compartment of Phase-Space, representing the situation where all the gas lies tucked up in the corner, has a volume of only

1/10 to pwr 60*24 zeros - of that of the entire Phase-Space.

[1/10^{60 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000}]

the Entropy of a state is a measure of the volume v of the compartment containing the phase-space point which represents the state.

In view of the various discrepancies between these volumes, it is perhaps as well that the Entropy is taken -

not to be proportional to that volume, but to the logarithm of the volume:

Entropy = k log v

In other words – the log of 10 million, for example is only about 16.

The quantity k is a constant, called Boltzmann’s Constant.  Its value is about 10 to the power minus 23 Joules per Degree Kelvin.

(I do not think that you should delve into it – these actually for highly qualified Research scientists who can go into it.  For You and Me, it is just to show how the deep the subject of Al-Qariah goes.)

Let us take look at these Verses from the Holy Quran:

بَلْ هُوَ آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ فِي صُدُورِ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلا الظَّالِمُونَ

29.49 Nay, here are Signs self-evident in the hearts of those endowed with knowledge: and none but the unjust reject Our Signs.

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَاخْتِلافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لأولِي الألْبَابِ

3.190 Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,-

وَفِي الأرْضِ آيَاتٌ لِلْمُوقِنِينَ

51.20 On the earth are signs for those of assured Faith,

وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ

51.21 As also in your own selves: Will ye not then see?

Scientists say : “Let us try to understand where this ‘amazing’ low Entropy comes from in the actual world that we inhabit.  Let us start with ourselves.  Remember the Quran Aayaths “also in your own selves? will you not then see?” – وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلا تُبْصِرُونَ

If we can understand where our own Low Entropy came from, then we should be able to see where the Low Entropy in the gas help by the  partition came from -

Or from the water glass on the table, -

Or in the egg shell above the frying pan -

Or the lump of sugar held over the cup of coffee.

In each case a person or collection of people (even if it be a chicken) was directly or indirectly responsible.  It was, so to a large extent, some small part of the low Entropy in ourselves which was actually made use of in setting up these other Low-Entropy states.  Additional factors might have been involved.

Perhaps, a vacuum pump was used to suck the gas to the corner of the box behind the partition.  if the pump was not operated manually, then it may have been that some ‘fossil fuel’ (e.g.oil) was burnt in order to provide the necessary low-Entropy energy for its operation.

Or – may be the pump was operated electrically and relied to some extent on the low – Entropy state in the uranium fuel of a nuclear power station.!!

Where indeed does our own Low Entropy come from?

Now watch very carefully.  We all know what I am going to tell you, but we never connected these simple things in life to scientific explanations —-

“The organization in our bodies come from the food that we eat and the oxygen we breathe.

very often we hear it stated that we obtain ‘energy’ from our intake of food and oxygen -   but there is a clear sense in which that is not really correct.

It is true that the food we consume does combine with this oxygen that we take into our bodies, and that this provides us with energy.  But for the most part, this energy leaves our bodies again, mainly in the form of heat.

Since energy is conserved, and since the actual energy content of our bodies remain more-or-less constant throughout our adult lives, there is no need – simply to – a d d to the energy content of our bodies.

We do not need more energy within ourselves than we already have.  In fact we do add to our energy content when we put on weight – but that is usually not considered desirable!   -

remember our fasting …….

Our hadithes to restrict our meals. [1/3 the stomach food – 1/3 water and balance 1/3 Air for breathing.]

Hadith 1.

أَنَّ رَجُلاً كَانَ يَأْكُلُ أَكْلاً كَثِيراً ، فَأَسْلَمَ فَكَانَ يَأْكُلُ أَكْلاً قَلِيلاً ، فَذُكِرَ ذَلِكَ لِلنَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ

« إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ يَأْكُلُ فِى مِعًى وَاحِدٍ ، وَالْكَافِرَ يَأْكُلُ فِى سَبْعَةِ أَمْعَاءٍ » .

A man used to take much food.  Then he accepted Islam and used to eat little.

This was mentioned to the Holy Prophet (S) who said:

“Verily the Believer eats in one gut and the unbeliever (in another hadith unbeliever and a hypocrite) eats in Seven guts.

Hadith 2. –

حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ أَخْبَرَنَا رَوْحُ بْنُ عُبَادَةَ ح وَحَدَّثَنِى يَحْيَى بْنُ حَبِيبٍ حَدَّثَنَا رَوْحٌ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ جُرَيْجٍ أَخْبَرَنِى أَبُو الزُّبَيْرِ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ « طَعَامُ الْوَاحِدِ يَكْفِى الاِثْنَيْنِ وَطَعَامُ الاِثْنَيْنِ يَكْفِى الأَرْبَعَةَ وَطَعَامُ الأَرْبَعَةِ يَكْفِى الثَّمَانِيَةَ ». وَفِى رِوَايَةِ إِسْحَاقَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم . لَمْ يَذْكُرْ سَمِعْتُ .

Jabir reported, I heard the Messenger of Allah (S) say:  The food of one is sufficient for two and the food of two is sufficient for four and the food of Four is sufficient for Eight.

Hadith 3.

حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ مُوسَى حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ عَنْ ثَوْرٍ عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ مَعْدَانَ عَنِ الْمِقْدَامِ بْنِ مَعْدِيَكْرِبَ رضى الله عنه عَنِ النَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ « كِيلُوا طَعَامَكُمْ يُبَارَكْ لَكُمْ »

Miqdam ibn Ma’di Karib reported that the Prophet (S) said:

Measure your food that you may get blessings therein.

Hadith 4

عَنِ الْمِقْدَامِ بْنِ مَعْدِيَكْرِبَ قال سَمِعْتُ رسول الله (ص) يَقُوْلُ مَا مَلاَءَ وِعَاءَ شّرًّ مِنْ بَطْنٍ بِحَسْبِ ابْنِ آدَمَ اُكُلاَتٌ يُقِمْنَ صُلْبَهُ فَإنْ كَانَ لاَ مُحَالةَ فَثُلُثٌ طَعَامٌ و ثُلُثٌ شَرَابٌ و ثُلُثٌ لِنَفْسِه

Miqdam ibn Ma’di Karib reported I heard the Apostle of Allah (S) say:

No man shall fill up his belly with obnoxious deposits.  There should be victuals for belly moderate for the son of Aadham which can keep his backbone erect.   If it is not possible – Then one – third (of belly) for food – One-third for Drink and one-Third for breathing.

Hadith No. 5.

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ (ص):

« اللَّهُمَّ ارْزُقْ آلَ مُحَمَّدٍ قُوتاً »  وفي رواية “كَفَافًا

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet of Allah supplicated make the provision of the familyof Muhummed a bare meal – In another narration – “Just Sufficient”

Supported by the Holy Quran:

يَا بَنِي آدَمَ خُذُوا زِينَتَكُمْ عِنْدَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ

7.31 O Children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah loves not the wasters.

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