How is Earth a miracle?

The Holy Qur’an describes various things as miracles or signs from God for mankind. One such verse is:

“And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth.” – Qur’an 30:22

Now, one may wonder, how is the earth itself considered a sign from God? Can our planet, as a whole, be considered a miracle by God?

In order to answer that question, let’s consider some aspects in contrast to our other siblings present in the Solar System.

1. Atmosphere

According to this article on NASA Science Mission Directorate, “only Earth has weather we can live with.” One of the many reasons is the temperature.

On other planets, due to the absence of a thick atmosphere, the temperature is extreme in both daytime and nighttime. For instance, on Mars, the nighttime temperature often drops below -200℉ due to its thin atmosphere not being able to hold the heat.

Hence, the sky is termed as a protected ceiling, due to the presence of atmosphere that guards our planet from reaching extreme, inhabitable temperature while protecting us from harmful Ultra Violet rays as well.

2. Landmass

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the only terrestrial planets that contain landmass for any living being to exist on it.

Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, hence containing little to no landmass to sustain humanity, while Neptune and Uranus, being termed as ice giants, consist of volatile chemical compounds with freezing points above about 100 K, such as water, ammonia, or methane.

In Chapter 2, Verse 22, as well as Chapter 40, Verse 64 of the Qur’an, earth has been described as a resting place. If we try to understand it on a cosmic level or planetary scale, human beings are merely some tiny creatures resting on a giant rock called earth.

3. Raining Water

Rain may not be considered a miracle on our planet, until we realize that it actually rains sulfuric acid on Venus, or that it rains diamonds on Neptune. Not only does this sound strange, it also depicts how hostile and inhospitable is the environment on other planets.

This could be one of the reasons why the rain is described as “blessed” in Chapter 50, Verse 9 of the Holy Qur’an. If we look at our planet, the water cycle is helpful for everything present on the lands, be it vegetation, soil, animals, human beings, etc. If it rained acid instead, the entire vegetation would’ve been destroyed, animals and human beings would’ve faced tremendous problems, and the pH level of the earth would’ve been dangerously low.

4. Formation of Day and Night

In order to understand how the formation of day and night considered a sign and a miracle, let us have a look at the following table, containing data taken from NASA SpacePlace, regarding the duration of a day as well as a year on other planets in our solar system.

Planet	Duration of a day (Earth hours)	Duration of a year (Earth days)
Mercury	1408 (58.6 days)	88
Venus	5832 (243 days)	225
Earth	24 (1 day)	365 days (1 year)
Mars	25	1.8 years
Jupiter	10	11.8 years
Saturn	11	29.4 years
Uranus	17	84 years
Neptune	16	164.9 years

The data shows the the variation between a planet’s day and year duration. It takes Neptune 165 earth years to complete one year, but merely 16 hours to complete a day. On the other hand, it takes Venus 243 earth days to complete one day, but only 225 to complete one revolution around the sun.

The only planet that comes closest to ours is Mars, which takes around 25 hours to complete its one rotation. However, it takes roughly twice as much time to complete its one year. This goes to show how systematic is the rotation and revolution time of Earth when compared to other planets in our own solar system.

In conclusion, we may say that everything about the earth is a miracle in and by itself, especially when we compare it to the other planets in our solar system. The terrestrial composition, the distance from the sun, the time required for a complete rotation, presence of atmosphere, so on and so forth, are all miracles.