Islamic and Jewish traditions support the idea of life beyond Earth, teaching that God created multiple worlds and sent prophets/messengers not only to humans but also to jinn (non-human intelligent beings) and potentially other species across the universe.

Recent scientific discoveries — such as atmospheres on rocky exoplanets in habitable zones, complex organic compounds in space, billions of potentially habitable planets in the Milky Way, and evidence of water and life-building blocks — align with Qur’anic verses describing creation from water and God’s concern for “all the worlds.”

Unlike some medieval Christian views that saw Earth and the incarnation of Jesus as absolutely unique, Islam and Judaism view God’s creation and guidance as universal, making the discovery of extraterrestrial life compatible with faith rather than contradictory.

During medieval times, Christian theologians accepted the Ptolemaic earth-centered Greek view of the universe as an absolute universal truth. They believed that the earth, life in general and human life in particular should be the center of God’s world. Thus they also taught that the incarnation of God through the body of Jesus must be an absolutely unique event the likes of which could not happen elsewhere.

Even today Jose Funes, the director of the Vatican’s astronomical observatory, who has a degree in theology and a doctorate in astronomy, said that, “What is clear is that while God may have created aliens and planets similar to Earth, there can be no second Jesus.” “The discovery of intelligent life does not mean there’s another Jesus,” he insisted, because “the incarnation of the son of God is a unique event in the history of humanity; and of the Universe.”

But Islam teaches that Allah, the one and only God of the whole universe, has not only sent thousands of prophets to all the nations and peoples of mankind on earth, but has also sent prophets to the jinn, who are non-human species everywhere else: “O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority (from Allah).” (Qur’an 55:33)

Now in a major milestone in the search for life on planets outside our solar system, astronomers have detected, for the first time in human history, an atmosphere surrounding an Earth-like, rocky planet orbiting within the habitable zone of another star. The finding provides the strongest evidence yet that worlds with conditions similar to Earth in composition and temperature, with the potential to support life, could exist beyond our solar system, according to a new study published July 16 in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

“An atmosphere is essential for a planet to support life as we........

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