Who are we and from where have we come

Who are we and from where have we come? How did the universe, the earth, life and time itself begin? What came before it, and what lies beyond this universe? From time immemorial, these queries have fascinated scientists, philosophers and theologians alike. For some of us, the answers lie in metaphysical speculation, often based on our religious beliefs, while for others, they are derived from the scientific method involving investigation, observation and conjecture. Whatever the means, this eternal effort to satisfy our curiosity keeps the search for our ‘origins’ under intense discussion and debate. Astronomers, physicists, microbiologists, biochemists, genetic scientists, palaeontologists, paleoanthropologists, archaeologists and creationists of various hues are involved in this dialogue, but to date, no one seems to have perfect answers that can satisfy the rational majority.

Into this arena of views and counterviews, where diverse disciplines collide and coalesce, a plausible thread of information from an entirely different window is presented. By taking up research issues that have relevance for all, an attempt is hereby made to demonstrate how ‘revealed knowledge’ can help in these scientific investigations that are occurring globally.

In a research work, titled 'In Search of Our Origins' more than hundred hints and pointers regarding the origin of life and the birth of humans are presented from the Quran which reveals information about events that lie beyond the periphery of scientific vision. These hints are extracted from the original text, and the information presented can be easily checked through the commonly available Arabic dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

The hints seem to tell us how the first molecule of life arose on the planet, what was the mechanism involved, where the event occurred on the primeval earth, and what did happen subsequently.

The pointers then tell us how the life is linked to man, how the first man and his mate were created, where they were nurtured initially, and when and where did they appear on the earth.

The researcher argues that the phenomenon of revelations is extraterrestrial, and presents a mechanism for verification of the information. He claims that investigation of this data has the potential to permanently lay at rest the debate between creationists and evolutionists.