What does Quran say about Copper?

10. Decoding the verses of the Holy Quran

Gold, silver, platinum, and the rest of the heavy elements are all the result of tremendous star explosions in the distant past. Regardless of the idea, copper is a metal with stellar origins. So, What does Quran say about Copper? And here comes an extraordinary Qur’anic revelation that confirms, however implicitly, the stellar origin of copper, or, to put it another way, the existence of copper in space. It is stated:

“O assembly of jinn and humans! If you can penetrate beyond the realms of the heavens and the earth, then do so. ˹But˺ you cannot do that without ˹Our˺ authority. Then which of your Lord’s favours will you both deny? Flames of fire and ˹molten˺ copper will be sent against you, and you will not be able to defend one another.”

– Chapter 55 (Surah Ar- Rahman) verse 33-35

Let’s decipher this verse of the Holy Quran.

Early universe

There is known that the early universe created hydrogen and helium. Both are very simple elements. Astrophysicists suggest that hydrogen was the first element to be created in the soup of sub-atomic particles after big bang (the big blast that created the universe). It has no neutrons. within three minutes, helium is thought to be formed. It has two protons, two neutrons and two electrons circulating its nucleus. After the creation of hydrogen and helium, the early universe cooled and expanded so much that formation of new elements was forbidden. So, the question remained, how and when did heavy elements appear, and specifically Copper that has 29 protons, 35 neutrons, and 29 electrons. Researches have shown that the creation of heavy elements is only possible in the core of large stars, larger than sun, which are largely made of hydrogen and helium. When they have burnt hydrogen, they switch to burning their helium. At that stage they expand to several times their size and are referred to as “Red Giant Stars.” If they had sufficient mass at the start, they become Supergiants.

Blue Supergiant as compared to our Sun https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a27392563/blue-supergiants-explained/

Nonetheless, when they have finished burning their fuel, they begin to contract. As they contract, temperature rises immensely. As the process of contraction continues, pressure builds up, and temperatures rise. With high temperatures and pressures, the process of nucleosynthesis is triggered and new, heavier elements are synthesized, iron being the last. (This cannot happen in our sun because it is not large enough). Then the star explodes, scattering this all material in the vast space.

Fred Hoyle | first to suggest how possibly heavy elements like carbon, nickel, iron etc. could have been made by nature https://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/fred-hoyle

Origin of Copper

Copper has another story. Scientists know the origins of the majority of chemical elements, from hydrogen to uranium, and there is no disagreement. However, with an atomic number of 29, copper appears to be an exception. Some hypotheses suggest that it originated in huge stars, while others believe it was created in white dwarfs, which are formed when stars the size of our Sun exhaust their hydrogen and helium fuel and enter the nucleosynthesis phase before exploding. They are thus referred to as type la supernovae, and copper appears to be a byproduct of la type supernova.

Nucleosynthesis – How Elements Are Made https://sciencenotes.org/nucleosynthesis-how-elements-are-made/

A star bursts into Supernova https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/03/30/the-milky-ways-most-recent-supernova-was-hidden-until-now/

However, the majority of experts believe that copper on Earth came from a star eight times the size of our Sun. When a star’s core runs out of hydrogen, it expands into a supergiant, and the core begins to convert helium into carbon and oxygen. Further burning results in an increase in temperature and a decrease in size (iron atomic number 26). Further nucleosynthesis results in the formation of copper. Finally, the star explodes, sending its elements into space, where they are absorbed by various celestial bodies, including our Earth, in their own good time. Gold, silver, platinum, and the rest of the heavy elements are all the result of tremendous star explosions in the distant past. Regardless of the idea, copper is a metal with stellar origins. And here comes an extraordinary Qur’anic revelation that confirms, however implicitly, the stellar origin of copper, or, to put it another way, the existence of copper in space. It is stated:

– Chapter 55 (Surah Ar- Rahman) verse 33-35

So, isn’t the Holy Quran a book of God?

My final words

The glorious Quran says:

“We will show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this ˹Quran˺ is the

truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things?”

– Chapter 41 (Surah Fussilat ) verse 53

Some people require only one sign, while others require numerous signs to embrace the truth. On the other side, there are others who, even after receiving thousands of indications, refuse to embrace the reality. The Quran describes these persons as:

“They are ˹wilfully˺ deaf, dumb, and blind, so they will never return ˹to the Right Path˺.”
– Chapter 2 (Surah Al-Baqarah) verse 18

The Bible says the same thing:

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
– Gospel of Matthew verse 13 of chapter 13

So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?