Quran on the Age of Everything: Science + Quranic Verses Explained

Scientific Background (Brief)

Cosmologists estimate the Universe’s age at 13.77 billion years by modeling expansion and comparing predictions to observations (e.g., background radiation patterns, standard candles). On the other hand, geologists estimate Earth’s age at 4.55 billion years via radiometric clocks in rocks and meteorites.

• Universe age estimates come from multiple lines of evidence (cosmic expansion, background radiation, element abundances), converging on a consistent timescale. However different methods result in slightly different estimates for the Hubble Constant and thus the universe's age, which scientists call the Hubble tension.
• Earth’s age is derived primarily from radiometric dating of meteorites and ancient minerals, yielding a stable multi-billion-year figure.
• Cross-checks across methods improve confidence in the overall timeline.

Quranic Verses Often Discussed

Transcript Summary

Scientists estimate the universe to be about 13.8 billion years old and the Earth about 4.5 billion years old. The Qur’an repeatedly says God created the heavens and the earth in “six days,” yet a “day” for humans is tied to Earth’s rotation and the Sun—a measure that did not exist before the solar system formed. The Qur’an itself uses flexible timescales: in some places a day is ordinary human time, in others a day with God is like a thousand years (Q 22:47; 32:5), and elsewhere fifty thousand years (Q 70:4).

If “six days” describes six long phases of creation, then it is reasonable to think in terms of eons, not 24‑hour intervals. As a thought experiment, the script treats the end of creation for Earth as the start of the Cenozoic Era (about 66 million years ago), when mammals and birds rose after the dinosaurs’ extinction. Using that milestone, the average length of a “day” across six phases of Earth’s formation would be on the order of hundreds of millions of years—about 746 million years. Plotted in logarithmic space alongside the Qur’anic “day” lengths of 1,000 and 50,000 years (and weighting by how often they’re mentioned), the simple projection lands near the log‑ages of Earth and the universe.

The takeaway is not only that the Quran validates scientificly estimated numerical ages, but that it invites reflection on vast timescales in God's created universe. Scientific ages come from evidence and models; scripture provides meaning and perspective. Read this way, the “six days” can be understood as six immense epochs—long enough to encompass Earth’s history and, in another reading, the history of the cosmos, while keeping science as the primary tool for measurement, and the Quran for astonishingly accurate validation.