Article appeared Friday, July 7th, 2020 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (619) yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

Does the 24-hour day and night cycle bring any special benefits for human beings? In
what ways? Before looking at the benefits, can we first find out whether other planets in
the Solar System have similar day and night cycles? The Lunar Planetary Institute (LPI)
investigates such scientific facts and publishes its research for the public. In its article on
Day and Night {1}, under The Myths, the Magic and the Mysteries of the Universe it
explains the variation of day and night in the various planets across the Solar System.
“All the planets in our solar system spin on their axes and so they have day and
night cycles. There are differences, however, in the length of day and night — the
cycles are made even more complex by the tilt of a planet's axis and its rate of
orbit. Some planets rotate faster than Earth and some rotate slower. Mars has a
day and night cycle similar to Earth. Mars rotates on its axis once every
24.6 hours. Venus turns once on its axis every 243 Earth days. Mercury's day
and night cycle is more complex. Mercury rotates one-and-a-half times during
each orbit around the Sun. Because of this, Mercury's day — from sunrise to
sunrise — is 176 Earth days long. The larger planets spin much faster. Jupiter
rotates once every 10 hours, Saturn spins once every 11 hours, and Neptune
completes a rotation in 16 hours. Pluto, at the farthest reaches of our solar
system, spins on its axis once every 6.4 days.” {1}

Science is telling us that the length of day and night varies according to the speed at
which a planet rotates on its axis. Due to the speed of spinning, the length of the night
and day on Venus is equal to 243 earth days of 24 hours. To reflect, can we ask the
question, what would happen to our daily routines if the earth rotated at the same speed
as Venus? Consulting science again, we are told that our bodies have an internal clock
of 24 hours on which our physical and mental health depends. Quoting from the article
Circadian Rhythms drive your health {2}:
“Did you know your body has its own internal Rolex? OK, not exactly. But your
body does keep time. It’s called your internal biological clock—or scientifically
speaking, your circadian rhythms. A well-running clock is essential for your
health. So much so, that the scientists who discovered how circadian rhythms
work were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2017. Learn how your
biological clock affects all aspects of your health. That includes proper sleep,
mental health, eating habits, healthy aging, the pesky effects of jet lag, and
overall wellbeing.” {2}

So, how does our internal clock happen to match the 24-hour day and night cycle? How
does the day and night cycle affect our daily appointments, work and rest cycles? What
would happen to our lives and wellbeing if our day was as long as 243 days, i.e., equal
to a day on Venus? Let us look at what the Holy Scripture, Al-Qur’an says.

28.71 “Say: Do you not reflect? If Allah were to make the Night continuous
till the Day of Judgment what god is there other than Allah who can give
you light? Will you not then listen (with understanding)?”
So, God has adjusted and matched the day and night cycle to our physical and mental
needs. Should we think about this, acknowledge and be grateful to Him? The Verse
28.71 is asking us to reflect. For example, if God did not arrange light for us, how would
we get light? Can the chemicals with which the heavens and earth are made know that
humans need light to see and then automatically create the sun? How would chemicals
know what light is, the fact that light is required for visibility, how fire/explosions can give
light and how much light is needed to see?
The day and night cycle is just one of the matched benefits that God has created. There
are myriad such systems that He has created to support human life. A British scientist Dr
James Lovelock understood that many of these systems exist only on the earth and
appear magically to support human life, when he compared the environment on Mars,
while working with NASA {3}. To explain the intelligent support provided he proposed the
Gaia Theory {3} which suggests that the earth is a “living organism” that adjusts the
systems in nature automatically to support human life. He overlooked the fact that
chemicals require not only intelligence to understand what humans need, but also the
power to create life support systems. This is why God again asks us to reflect.

28.72 “Say: Do you not reflect? If Allah were to make the Day continuous
till the Day of Judgment what deity other than Allah could bring you a night
in which you can rest? Will you not then see (with understanding)?”
Without the night part of the daily cycle, could we survive? In the next Verse God
explains why He created the night.

28.73 “It is out of His Mercy that He has made for you Night and Day that
you may rest therein and that (by day) you may seek from His Bounty and
that perhaps you will be grateful.”
In another Verse in the Qur’an, God explains further His purpose in creating the night
and day cycle for us.
“We have made the Night and the Day as two (of Our) Signs: the Sign of the
Night have We have erased while the Sign of the Day We have made visible; that
you may seek bounty from your Lord and that you may know the number of the
years and account (for time): all things have We explained in detail.” [17.12]

Why is God asking us to study His Signs? If God has created every system for us to
utilize, benefit from and enjoy, is there any thing other than He that can hold power over
our lives? How then should we approach the Almighty and Merciful Creator? The things
we give priority over God and His revealed Verses effectively demonstrate weaknesses
in our thinking and logic. If we imagine that other things hold more power over our lives,
God is going to ask us to justify and prove such false logic on the Day of Judgment.

28.74 “The Day that He will call on them He will say: “Where are My
‘partners’ whom you imagined (to be such)?””
On the Day of Judgment, can we prove that things other than God are indeed powerful,
e.g., that physical elements can understand and organize themselves to support human
life? By proposing the Gaia Theory, how may “partners” are imagined? First is the earth
itself, assuming that it has the intelligence and power to create? Second, the scientist
himself, assuming that he can propose a theory more logical than that confirmed by the
Holy Scriptures?

28.75 “And from each people shall We extract a witness and We shall say:
"Produce your Proof": then shall they know that the Truth is Allah (alone)
and the (lies) which they invented will leave them in the lurch."”
-----
{Notes}:
{1} https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/day_night/
{2} https://askthescientists.com/circadian-rhythms/
{3} http://www.gaiatheory.org/overview/