I am going to talk about what I think heaven might be like from the point of view of modern physics.

First I will start by quoting a hadith that our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said about heaven, reported by Abu Hurairah:

"A space in Jannah equal to the distance between the middle and the end of a bow will be better than all that upon which the sun rises and sets.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

This hadith is cited from http:
http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/hadeeth/riyad/19/chap372.htm

After I thought about this hadith, I understood that this hadith is clearly telling us something about the shape and geometry of space in heaven. To me, it means that space in heaven is very curved or warped by gravity, which makes it possible for a tiny amount of space to be better and more beautiful than a larger amount of space. Therefore, it is possible that a scientific explanation of heaven could be that the heavens might be the extra higher dimensions proposed by many of today's leading string theorists, because similarly the higher dimensions are said to have an extreme curvature or warping of space by gravity.

String theory, a quest for unification, requires that there be a total of eleven dimensions: 3 dimensions that we can see and touch (lenght, width, height), the fourth dimension which is time, and the remaining seven dimensions are so compactified and warped by gravity that no one has been able to detect them yet. The number of extra dimensions we cannot observe, according to many string theorists, is seven. These seven dimensions are too small and compactified for us to see with our eyes. The number of hidden dimensions- seven- also matches with the Islamic belief that there are seven heavens Allah created. String theory tells us that there are seven more dimensions besides the four that we are familiar with, and similarly it is written in the Quran that there are a total of seven heavens.

The space that make up the higher dimensions are warped and tightly curled-up because of gravity. So in the higher dimensions, a small amount of space has much more information and details than a larger amount of space would have. This description of the extra dimensions put forward by today's physicists I think have a lot in common with what our Nabi (peace be upon him) said about the nature of space in heaven in the hadith that I have mentioned above.

The belief in life after death is universal; it is reflected in the teachings of all the major religions of the world, permeating culture and time. Despite tremendous scientific and technological advancement of the twentieth century, we have no answers to many questions that have plagued the minds of people from time immemorial. What happens to us on dying? What is soul? Does it leave the body to enter the spiritual world, which is beyond human perception in some other dimension? Are the souls reincarnated entering some other body to be recycled again as in the beliefs of some eastern religions? Is the soul captured and kept somewhere until the Day of Judgment to be reunited with the body that rises from the grave? How can a body that had decayed and disappeared into dust, regain its original shape and form? We can believe what we wish; however the modern world is based on truthful pursuit of science and technology. Truth cannot be decided on wishful thinking or majority vote, if that was the case then Columbus would have surely fallen of the earth in 1492."

We live in a world that demands proof and is not just content with belief. The belief or even the proof however, is only for the believer, and belief comes from within our hearts. The greatest of proofs will not satisfy the non-believer, while the slightest evidence can be a great source of satisfaction for the believer. In this context let us look at the story of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be on him) given in the Quran. (Chapter ii verse 260.) Prophet Ibrahim wanted to know how God gives life to the dead. He had the faith of a man who was willing to sacrifice his own son for the sake of God, yet he wanted reassurance; which then was given to him in the form of a great miracle. Ordinary people like us are also in need of reassurance in a world where science and technology have assumed greater importance than religion.

There is only one version of the Quran. It is the only religious book that even the critics of Islam admit was never altered since its revelation to Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him: Pbuh) fourteen hundred years ago. Scientific advancements have provided better understanding of many Quranic verses that appeared obscure in the past. The Quran accurately describes a variety of scientific facts that were discovered in the last one hundred years. This is one of the reasons that the Quran stands far above other religious books in its authority as a truly revealed book.