Science in the Glorious Quran: Black Holes

 “فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ. الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ” (التكوير:15-16).

“Verily, I swear, by the stars that are khunnas (receding), those which are jawar (run their courses) and kunnas (sweep whatever is in their path).” (Qur’an, 81:15-16)

It was previously thought that it is possible to see all the stars, until in 1969 stars which are not perceived were discovered and the term “black holes” was employed.

When a supermassive running star (jawar, in the verse) consumes its fuel, it collapses resulting in a black hole with an enormous gravitational force that can sweep other heavenly bodies like a vacuum pump or cleaner (kunnas, in the verse). Because the photons of light, which have a speed of 186,000 miles per second, do not escape the enormous gravitational force of the black hole, it appears black or veiled (khunnas, in the verse).

Black holes are revealed indirectly, by the suction of heavenly bodies. In the above two verses, God swears by the stars of the black holes and summarizes their characteristics in three words of jawar, kunnas and khunnas.

Red dwarf star is sucked into a giant black hole (NASA) (left). The closest black hole to Earth is about 26,000 light years away (NASA) (left).