Is participating in the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligences (SETI) permitted in Islam?

Koopa39

Member
Assalamu Alaykum,

I have two questions.

Is believing in the existence of technologically superior extraterrestrial intelligences permitted in Islam?

Is trying to find and contact technologically superior extraterrestrial intelligences (e.g. by working at the SETI Institute) permitted in Islam?

These “technologically superior extraterrestrial intelligences” would not be like the aliens in all of the Hollywood movies, they would be far more powerful.

They would be technologically so far ahead of us that they could potentially do some or all of the following things (sorted from most likely to least likely):
- Completely blow up a planet or a star with one single bomb (e.g. antimatter bomb).
- Create stars and planets and perhaps also seed life on planets.
- Have armies of trillions of extremely intelligent and powerful robots.
- Engineer structures bigger than our planet (e.g. Jupiter brains) and bigger than our Sun (e.g. Dyson spheres, matrioshka brains).
- Have uploaded their consciousness/soul into machines (e.g. super-advanced computers, Jupiter brains, matrioshka brains) to achieve immortality.
- Teleport instantly anywhere in the universe by using wormholes.
- Travel in the past and change the timeline.
 

Abu Juwairiya

Junior Member
Assalamu Alaykum,

I have two questions.

Is believing in the existence of technologically superior extraterrestrial intelligences permitted in Islam?

Is trying to find and contact technologically superior extraterrestrial intelligences (e.g. by working at the SETI Institute) permitted in Islam?

These “technologically superior extraterrestrial intelligences” would not be like the aliens in all of the Hollywood movies, they would be far more powerful.

They would be technologically so far ahead of us that they could potentially do some or all of the following things (sorted from most likely to least likely):
- Completely blow up a planet or a star with one single bomb (e.g. antimatter bomb).
- Create stars and planets and perhaps also seed life on planets.
- Have armies of trillions of extremely intelligent and powerful robots.
- Engineer structures bigger than our planet (e.g. Jupiter brains) and bigger than our Sun (e.g. Dyson spheres, matrioshka brains).
- Have uploaded their consciousness/soul into machines (e.g. super-advanced computers, Jupiter brains, matrioshka brains) to achieve immortality.
- Teleport instantly anywhere in the universe by using wormholes.
- Travel in the past and change the timeline.

It seems you are describing some of the traits, physical abilities and characteristics of the Jinn. While I recognise you are referring to 'aliens', the Jinn have some of the capabilities you described and since they occupy the world of then unseen, they often are mistaken for things they are not which include ghosts, people who have passed away and perhaps mythical animals and monsters.

As Allah has described there are Shayateen [devils] among some of them who aim to deceive mankind, Allah has asked us to stay away from them for our own safety and welfare.

Since Allah has asked us not to be involved or interested in them, it might be wise to apply the same rules to aliens. We do not know anything about them and as there is nothing in Islam that shows benefit in looking for them, it seems the correct position to avoid the issue altogether.
 

Abu Juwairiya

Junior Member
While there is nothing wrong with thinking about 'extra terrestrial' life forms, it might be wise to reflect on what Allah wants to believe about them and our relationship with other beings.

In this respect, some meaningful questions to Muslims can be-

1. Is there any benefit to my life here to know about aliens?
2. Will knowledge about aliens help me in the afterlife [akhirah]?
3. If there was any benefit in knowing about them, what is the likelihood Allah would have told us about them?
4. What if some or most sightings and encounters of what we think are aliens are actually the Jinn [which is quite possible]?

The dangers outweigh the possible benefits and since we have Allah, while everyone else has conjecture, what more could we want.

At present, we know of the Jinn race, their historicity, capabilities and in some case their deceptive traits towards each other and humanity.

Allah tells us the Jinn have existed for thousands of years before the human race came into existence. As such, if time is a factor in the evolution of civilisations, developed societies, divergence of cultures, modernisation and progress then logically the Jinn are likely to be more advanced, both socially, politically, financially, technologically and scientifically than the human race, based on a longer period on earth and everywhere else.

Second, Allah tells us, their nature allows them to exist and thrive on air, water, space, all and every kind of different surfaces [i.e. on acidic areas, gaseous places, etc.], it shows they have greater physical strengths to build settlements on places where we cannot even breathe or walk on. If that is the case, then is it not possible that it may have been the Jinn that made civilisations on the moon, under water in the galaxies and underground thousands of metres deep into the earth's crust.
 
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