Do astrophysicists believe in God?

Living in Los Angeles County, you are lucky to see more than three stars in the sky. One night I had the opportunity to see the night sky at 2,000 meters above sea level at one of Jet Propulsion Lab’s facilities.

I patiently waited for hours until nightfall cooling the telescope, identifying potential targets to test the optics system with, and eating crackers. Finally the clock struck nine. I excused myself from the rest of the team, too embarrassed to say I wanted to stare at the sky. At first, I could see nothing but black. But as my eyes adjusted, millions of stars appeared to form the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Milky Way looks like a gash across the sky, bleeding billions of planets and stars. There are more planets sharing our galaxy than people that have ever inhabited the earth. Some are made of ice, host vast lakes of liquid nitrogen, and even solely covered in molten lavas. Others can spin so fast that a year equates to 8 hours. Unfortunate ones are actively being swallowed by supermassive black holes. And of those planets, none have been believed to sustain human life. Earth is the only planet at the perfect equilibrium needed to host the human race. “So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?” Quran [55:13]

“Would you like to see the only visible galaxy in the sky?” I didn’t notice that the rest of the team joined me. Despite the fact these men has been observing the sky for a living for the past few decades, they looked upwards with the same reverential expression as I did. “Can you make out the Pegasus constellation? Find it’s two hind legs. Notice how two stars at the joints are parallel? Imagine a line between them extending north until you see a faint oval. That is the Andromeda galaxy.” Was there was someone looking up at my galaxy?

Not even the brightest astrophysicists can identify the origins of our grand universe. The most common theory is that 14 billion years ago a spec of matter began expanding due to an “unknown force” creating dimensions of space and time like a balloon. Another theory postulates time is a sort of arrow that was shot by an “unknown force” through the four dimensions of the universe. Another theory is the universe is a ball being pushed by an “unknown force” through time. “We explain the Signs in detail for those who reflect.” Quran [10:24]

Astrophysicists spend their life trying to answer every human being asks: Where did I come from? We have scribbled equations to the ends of the earth. Investors pay billions for us to send machines to the heavens. And the data we receive from those machines are scoured endlessly by hundreds of computer models. Humanity is waiting for us to announce in a press release, “We have the answer.” To wake up every morning with the task unraveling the complexities of the cosmos is not easy. We cannot except that three word answer most people accept.

The men continued to look at the sky, their faces traced with deep crevices that come with the demanding nature of this science we have dedicated the rest of our lives to. As they admired the majesty of the night sky, they were not thinking of numbers or codes. “Heavens and on earth. Behold, in that are signs indeed for those who reflect.” Quran [45:13]