Did Muhammad Found Islam? The Quran, One God, and the Expanding Universe

Did Islam Begin With Muhammad?

A lot of people think Prophet Muhammad started Islam. But according to Islamic teachings, the message of Islam goes back much further than Muhammad himself.

The word Islam means submission to God. Muslims believe that the call to worship one God began with the earliest prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. They taught their people to turn away from false gods and worship the one Creator.

So what made Muhammad different?

Muslims believe he was the final prophet, sent with a message for all humanity—not just one particular nation or community. Earlier prophets were sent to their own peoples, while Muhammad's message was meant to reach people across the world and throughout the generations.

The miracles associated with earlier prophets were signs for the people who witnessed them. But the Quran holds a special place in Islam because Muslims believe it is God's final revelation, a message that people today can still read, question, and examine for themselves.

And for some people, reading it has completely changed the way they see the world.

From Believing There Was No God to Finding Faith

One man's story begins with a position many people can relate to: for the first 35 years of his life, he was convinced that God did not exist.

But as his interest in science grew, so did his questions about the universe. He began looking at the complexity of nature and the incredible order found throughout creation. Eventually, he came to believe that the universe could not simply be explained away as something without a Creator.

He also became convinced that there could only be one ultimate God.

Curious, he bought an English translation of the Quran. At first, he assumed it was just another religious book written by a man, much like he believed other scriptures had been written.

But as he read, something caught his attention. He found the Quran's message clear and logical, and certain passages made him stop and think. Then he came across a description of the universe that he believed connected with scientific discoveries made centuries later.

That experience changed how he viewed the Quran. He came to believe that Muhammad had not written the book himself, but had delivered a message from God.

For him, this was more than discovering a new religion. It was finding what he believed to be the truth after decades of disbelief. He described his faith as the greatest blessing of his life and began praying that he would remain a believer until the day he died.

His story raises an interesting question: Could a book written more than a thousand years ago have something meaningful to say about the universe we are still trying to understand?

The Quran and the Expanding Universe

For a long time, people had different ideas about the universe. Was it eternal? Had it always existed in the same form? Or did it have a beginning?

In the twentieth century, astronomy changed the conversation.

Astronomer Edwin Hubble observed that light from many distant galaxies was shifted toward the red end of the spectrum. This redshift provided important evidence that the universe is expanding, meaning that, on a large scale, distant galaxies are moving farther apart as space expands.

These findings helped transform modern cosmology and support the development of the Big Bang model. According to this model, the universe has been expanding from an earlier, much hotter and denser state.

Now consider what the Quran says about the heavens and the Earth.

Surah Al-Anbiya (21:30)

“Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?”

— Quran 21:30, Sahih International translation

This verse describes the heavens and the Earth as having been joined together before God separated them. Muslims have connected this description with the idea that the universe had an origin and that the world we know did not always exist in its present form.

The verse also draws attention to water as essential to life—a subject that remains central to biology and the search for life beyond Earth.

But there's another passage worth reading.

Surah Adh-Dhariyat (51:47)

“And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander.”

— Quran 51:47, Sahih International translation

Some translations render the final phrase as a statement that God is expanding the heavens. Other interpretations understand the wording differently, including as a reference to God's vast power or the vastness of the heavens.

For Muslims who connect this verse with the expanding universe, the resemblance is remarkable: a text revealed more than a thousand years ago speaking about the heavens in terms they see as consistent with a discovery made in modern astronomy.

It's worth being clear about the distinction. Modern cosmology is based on observations, measurements, and mathematical models. Whether these Quranic verses directly describe the Big Bang or cosmic expansion is a matter of interpretation, not something established by the scientific evidence alone.

Still, the verses invite a question that has fascinated people for centuries: What can the universe teach us about its origin, and about the possibility of a Creator?

One God, One Message

In Islam, Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. Arabic-speaking Christians use the same word when speaking about God. In Islamic belief, God is one, without partners or equals—the Creator of everything that exists.

The Quran repeatedly encourages people to look at the world around them, think about how it came to be, and reflect on the order and complexity of creation.

For some people, that reflection begins with astronomy. For others, it begins with nature, philosophy, or a personal search for meaning. And for others, it begins by opening the Quran for the first time.

The message at the heart of Islam is straightforward: worship the one God, reflect on His creation, and seek the truth rather than accepting someone else's opinion without examining it.

You don't have to take another person's word for what the Quran says. Read the passages yourself. Look at their context. Explore the science. Then consider what they mean to you.

One God. One message. And a universe that continues to make us ask questions.