In Surah Al-Furqan (The Criterion), Allah is described as the One who created the universe with measure and proportion:
"He to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and who has not taken a son and has not had a partner in dominion and has created each thing and determined it with [precise] determination." (Al-Furqan 25:2)
The Arabic expression "qaddara-hu taqdiran" (قدره تقديراً) literally means "He measured it, proportioned it with precision." This notion of measure and proportion is at the very heart of modern science.
The universe: a mathematical order
Since Galileo, who affirmed that "the book of nature is written in mathematical language," modern science has revealed that the universe obeys mathematical laws of remarkable precision.
The fundamental physical constants — the speed of light, the gravitational constant, Planck's constant — possess extremely precise values that determine the very structure of the universe. An infinitesimal variation of these constants would make the universe uninhabitable, even impossible.
The fine-structure constant
The fine-structure constant (α ≈ 1/137) is one of the most fundamental constants of physics. It determines the strength of the electromagnetic interaction and, consequently, the structure of atoms, molecules and all matter.
Its extremely precise value is essential to the existence of life as we know it. This "fineness" of the physical constants, which physicists call the anthropic principle, resonates with the Quranic notion of "measure" and "proportion."
The laws of gravitation and mechanics
The laws of universal gravitation (Newton, 1687) and quantum mechanics describe with remarkable mathematical precision the behavior of the universe, from the largest scales (galaxies) to the smallest (subatomic particles).
This capacity of the universe to be described by precise mathematical equations — what Einstein called "the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible" — testifies to a remarkable underlying order.
A sign of creative wisdom
Verse 25:2 states that Allah created each thing "and determined it with precise determination." Modern science, by revealing the mathematical precision of the laws of the universe, gives new depth to this Quranic affirmation.