In this verse – Allah (swt) discusses the concept of seven heavens also noting the lowest heaven is adorned with lamps/lights using the Arabic word  مصابيح (pronounced as masabih) meaning lamps/torches. The Quran and Hadith frequently mention the existence of seven samāwāt (سماوات), the plural of samāʾ (سماء), meaning ‘heaven, sky, celestial sphere’. 

As a species we have gazed at the skies/heavens above and the beautiful night stars since the beginning of time. The Quran mentions these as signs for those that reflect/ponder in Surah Al Imran: Verse 191 (shared below).

As science has evolved in the fields of Astronomy and Physics mostly from the 1960’s to present day –  we have more understanding and new concepts in theoretical physics. String Theory has developed into one of the more researched and scholarly accepted viewpoints. String theory is a broad and varied subject that attempts to address a number of deep questions of fundamental physics. String theory has contributed a number of advances to mathematical physics, which have been applied to a variety of problems in black hole physics, early universe cosmology, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics, and it has stimulated a number of major developments in pure mathematics.

String theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string looks just like an ordinary particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory, one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton, a quantum mechanical particle that carries the gravitational force. Thus, string theory is a theory of quantum gravity.

The most studied and prevailing version of String Theory states the universe as having 10 dimensions (M theory discusses a potential 11th dimension). When someone mentions “different dimensions,” we tend to think of things like parallel universes – alternate realities that exist parallel to our own, but where things work or happened differently. However – dimensions are simply the different facets of what we perceive to be reality. We are immediately aware of the three dimensions that surround us on a daily basis – those that define the length, width, and depth of all objects in our universes (the x, y, and z axes, respectively).

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of Dark Matter. Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called “dark” because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not absorb, reflect, or emit electromagnetic radiation and is, therefore, difficult to detect. Various astrophysical observations – including gravitational effects which cannot be explained by currently accepted theories of gravity unless more matter is present than can be seen – imply dark matter’s presence. For this reason, most experts think that dark matter is abundant in the universe and has had a strong influence on its structure and evolution.

This mysterious Dark Matter is invisible however it provides the bulk of gravity that holds galaxies together. This invisible Dark Matter has weird collision properties (collisionless). Simply put: we cannot see Dark Matter nor collide with it but we can detect its gravity.

An influential paper presented Rubin and Ford’s results in 1980 showed most galaxies must contain about six times as much dark as visible mass; thus, by around 1980 the apparent need for dark matter was widely recognized as a major unsolved problem in astronomy. At the same time Rubin and Ford were exploring optical rotation curves, radio astronomers were making use of new radio telescopes to map the 21 cm line of atomic hydrogen in nearby galaxies allowed an ability to map/visualize.  

A powerful collision of galaxy clusters captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory provides evidence for dark matter and insight into its properties. Observations of the cluster known as MACS J0025.4-1222 indicate that a titanic collision has separated dark matter from ordinary matter. The images also provide an independent confirmation of a similar effect detected previously in a region called the Bullet Cluster. Like the Bullet Cluster, this newly studied cluster shows a clear separation between dark and ordinary matter.

As the two clusters that formed MACS J0025 (each almost a whopping quadrillion times the mass of the Sun) merged at speeds of millions of miles per hour, the hot gas in the two clusters collided and slowed down, but the dark matter passed right through the smashup. The separation between the material shown in pink and blue therefore provides observational evidence for dark matter and supports the view that dark-matter particles interact with each other only very weakly or not at all, apart from the pull of gravity!

In summary – this image above depicts two huge clusters of invisible Dark Matter (in blue) clashing with each other. However upon impact, instead of disintegrating into smaller pieces, they passed through each other unscathed! This means that they did not collide with each other either (collisionless)! They simply passed through each other! Both clusters dragged our hydrogen as seen on the telescopic imaging!

The Quran mentions in Surah At Takwir (The Overthrowing): Quran 81:15-1:

This Dark Matter is invisible, moves and sweeps our hydrogen.

In the prevailing versions of string theory there are 10 dimensions. We are immediately aware of the three dimensions that surround us on a daily basis – those that define the length, width, and depth of all objects in our universes (the x, y, and z axes, respectively). There are a total of 4 observable dimensions when you incorporate time T (along with the three spatial dimensions x, y, z ). This leaves 6 remaining extra dimensions that hold mass (as dark matter). Mass in each of these extra dimensions forms a separate heaven. The 1 observable dimension (x,y,z, and t) + the 6 extra dimensions form a total of 7 superimposed heavens (multiverse).

In Surah Fusilat (“Explained in Detail”)/  Ayat 12 – Allah (swt) discusses the concept of seven heavens also noting the lowest heaven is adorned with lamps/lights with the 6 prevailing heavens not being appreciable (or dark to our views). There are signs for those willing to ponder!