Secrets of the 4th Dimension in the Quran
From the very beginning, I found the concept of enantiomers confusing, and even now I still struggle with it at times. However, studying biology unexpectedly helped me gain a deeper understanding of the fourth dimension and even the idea of time travel. In this article, I will explain how biological concepts led me to think differently about dimensions, time, and reality itself. So, let’s decipher this concept of 4th dimension in the Holy Quran today. Shall we?
Summary of the Blog:
- Enantiomers are non-superimposable mirror images
- What is 4th dimension?
- Explaining the Verse of Surah
- How people of Cave did time travel? My Hypothesis?
Urdu/Hindi Video (4th Dimension and Holy Quran):
Enantiomers: Non-Superimposable Mirror Images
First of all, what are enantiomers1? As we study in biology and chemistry, enantiomers are those stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other but non-superimposable. In simple words, they are mirror images that cannot be placed exactly on top of one another.
If that sounds confusing, don’t worry, it confused me too (and still does, honestly). Just imagine your two hands. You have hand number one and hand number two. Your hands are perfect examples of enantiomers. They look similar, they are mirror images, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot superimpose your right hand perfectly onto your left one.
In biology, especially in carbohydrates, many molecules behave the same way. Even if we rotate them in every possible direction in three-dimensional space, they still refuse to overlap. It’s like they are saying: “Sorry, we don’t fit in your universe.”
Keep this idea in your mind because things are going to become scary in 4th dimension as it is in the Holy Quran.
What Is a Dimension?
A dimension is simply a direction in which movement is possible.
- In the first dimension, you can only move forward and backward.
- In the second dimension, you can move forward, backward, left, and right.
- In the third dimension, you can move in all directions: forward, backward, left, right, up, and down.
The more dimensions there are, the more freedom of movement exists. More dimensions mean more ways to escape your problems, or at least that’s what I like to believe.
We humans are three-dimensional creatures. We live and move freely in three spatial dimensions. But here’s the interesting part: in our three-dimensional world, we cannot superimpose our two hands, no matter how much we twist or rotate them. They remain stubbornly non-superimposable.
For them to become perfectly superimposable, we would need another direction of movement, something beyond the three dimensions we are familiar with.
Scientists say the universe formed over billions of years, but the Quran says Allah created the heavens and earth in six days – Allah’s Six Day Creation. Isn’t that a contradiction? Read here
What Is the 4th Dimension?
The 4th dimension can be understood as another direction of movement, and that direction is time.
If you were a fourth-dimensional creature, time would become independent for you. You would not be trapped in the present moment. You could move to the past, move to the future, or pause wherever you like. Time would simply become another axis, just like left-right or up-down.
In other words, the fourth dimension is not just about space, it’s about freedom from time itself.
Explaining the Verse of Surah Al-Kahf and 4th Dimension in the Quran
This idea helped me reflect on a verse from Surah Al-Kahf in the Holy Qur’an. Allah says that if you were to see the People of the Cave while they were sleeping, you would be filled with fear and would turn away from them.
“…If you had looked at them, you would have turned from them in flight and been filled by them with terror.”2
That always felt strange to me. In real life, when we see people sleeping, we usually find them peaceful, maybe even cute. We don’t run away screaming.
So why would someone feel fear?
The People of the Cave slept for many years. When they woke up, they thought they had slept for just a day or part of a day. But in reality, centuries had passed. hmmm……so time became independent for them and where does this can happen? 4th dimesnion
How Did the People of the Cave Do Time Travel? (My Hypothesis about 4th dimension in Quran)
From modern science, especially after Einstein’s theory of relativity, we know that time is not absolute. Time passes differently depending on speed and gravity. Astronauts experience time slightly differently than people on Earth. Near strong gravity, time slows down.
So time is flexible. It stretches. It bends.
In simple words: time is not as solid as we think it is. So one way to understand the story of the People of the Cave is that they experienced something similar to time travel. For them, only a short time passed. For the world, centuries passed.
Now connect this with dimensions. Just as our hands cannot be superimposed in three dimensions, maybe there exists a higher dimension where what seems impossible to us becomes possible. Now imagine how you will move your hand in such away that they will become superimpose. Scary na? Maybe time is just another direction, one we cannot move through freely, but which exists nonetheless. So that verse of Quran helped me understand 4th dimension.
If a being could move through time the way we move through space, it would appear unnatural or even terrifying to us. And that could explain why seeing the People of the Cave would feel so strange.
It’s not a scientific proof and not a religious interpretation either. It’s simply a reflection, a way my mind tried to make sense of biology, physics, and faith at the same time.
And honestly, I still don’t fully understand enantiomers…
but at least now I feel like they accidentally taught me something about the universe. 😄
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My final words
The glorious Quran says:
“We will show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this ˹Quran˺ is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things?”3
Some people require only one sign, while others require numerous signs to embrace the truth. On the other side, there are others who, even after receiving thousands of indications, refuse to embrace the reality. The Quran describes these persons as:
“They are ˹wilfully˺ deaf, dumb, and blind, so they will never return ˹to the Right Path˺.”4
The Bible says the same thing:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”5
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
- Enantiomers are stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other but cannot be superimposed, no matter how much they are rotated in three-dimensional space. ↩︎
- Chapter 18 (Surah Al-Kahf) verse 18 ↩︎
- Chapter 41 (Surah Fussilat ) verse 53 ↩︎
- Chapter 2 (Surah Al-Baqarah) verse 18 ↩︎
- Gospel of Matthew verse 13 of chapter 13 ↩︎