QUR'ANIC COSMIC BREADTH: An Interdisciplinary Research Framework (A Qur'an-first analysis of Qur'an 3:133 and 57:21 in relation to cosmic scale, spatial measurement, and the limits of scientific knowledge)

Abstract

This conceptual interdisciplinary study examines the Qur’anic descriptions of the breadth of Paradise in Qur’an 3:133 and 57:21 alongside modern scientific knowledge concerning cosmic scale, spatial measurement, and the limits of observation. It epistemologically distinguishes the Arabic wording of the divine text from empirical physical measurements, interpretive hypotheses, and claims that cannot currently be tested empirically. NASA’s public science explainer estimates the observable universe at approximately 92 billion light-years across while noting that the total size of the universe has no reliable estimate (Furfaro, 2025). Planck Collaboration results are consistent with spatial flatness to high accuracy within the standard ΛCDM model, but do not determine the universe’s total size or global topology (Planck Collaboration, 2020). The study does not claim that Paradise is identical to the observable universe or assign Paradise a numerical physical dimension. Instead, it establishes an ontological distinction between empirical physics and the Unseen (al-ghayb), proposing transparent research questions, exegetical nuances, and methodological safeguards for future interdisciplinary investigation.