A DELAY OF NINE DAYS
Divine Intervention or Chance?
ACCORDING to a report that appeared on March 18, 2014 in the journal Nature Communications, a massive magnetic storm erupted on the surface of the sun on July 23, 2012. This event may have proved to be destructive for the planet Earth. But luck saved us from this catastrophe. And, that luck was that Earth was on the other side of the sun at that time.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and another Chinese research team, both reported separately that a rapid succession of coronal mass ejections―the most intense eruptions on the sun―sent a pulse of magnetized plasma barrelling into space and through Earth’s orbit. The massive magnetic storm had a speed of 3,000 km per second―enough to circle Earth five times in one minute. Had the eruption come nine days earlier, when the ignition spot on the solar surface was aimed exactly at Earth, it would have hit the planet.
Researchers say that the solar burst tore through Earth’s orbit but, fortunately, Earth and the other planets were on the other side of the sun at the time. Had Earth been in the line of sight, it would have suffered severe magnetic storms as the magnetic field of the outburst would have tangled with the planet’s own magnetic field. This would have wreaked havoc with the electrical grid, disabling satellites and GPS, and disrupting our electronic lives.
What is “luck”? It is an intervention by the Lord of the universe. In the vast space, such events happen very often. However, through sheer ‘luck’, we remain safe from danger. It is a proof that there is a high control of check and balance in the universe.
What was this “luck”? In fact, it was an intervention by the Lord of the universe. In the vast expanses of space, such events happen quite often. However, every time our planet remains safe from danger. This phenomenon is a proof that there is a high control of check and balance in the universe.
It is this control that saves us from being a catastrophic victim to such events. This universal management has been mentioned in the Quran in these words: “Say, ‘Who will save you from the Most Gracious, by night and by day?’ Yet they turn away from the remembrance of their Lord.” (21: 42)