The general outline of the development of the heavens and the earth is summarized into three stages mentioned in Surat (Fussilat, verses 9-12); where Allah says:
((قُلْ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَتَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ أَندَاداً ذَلِكَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ)) (فصلت:9)
Which means: ((Is it that ye deny Him Who created the earth in two days? and do ye join equals with Him? He is The Lord of (all) the worlds)). (Quran 41:9)
((وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ مِن فَوْقِهَا وَبَارَكَ فِيهَا وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَا أَقْوَاتَهَا فِي أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ سَوَاء لِّلسَّائِلِينَ)) (فصلت:10)
Which means: (( He set on the (earth), mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measured there in all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four days, in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek sustenance)). (Quran 41:10)
((ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاء وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ اِئْتِيَا طَوْعاً أَوْ كَرْهاً قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ فَقَضَاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَأَوْحَى فِي كُلِّ سَمَاء أَمْرَهَا وَزَيَّنَّا السَّمَاء الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَحِفْظاً ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ)) (فصلت:11-12)
Which means: ((Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) "smoke": He said to it and to earth: "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly" They said: "we do come (together) in willing obedience." So he completed them as seven firmaments in two days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command, and we adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the decree of (Him) The Exalted in Might, full of knowledge)). (Quran 41:11-12)
How old is the Universe?
A- Scientific approach: Astronomers estimate the age of the universe by different methods. Two ways are essential: 1) by looking for the oldest stars; and 2) by measuring the rate of expansion of the universe and the expansion rate tell them how long the galaxies have been traveling since the big bang, and thus provide a rough age for the Universe NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project estimates the age of the universe to be: (13.73 ± 0.12) × 109 years. The age of the universe is about three times the age of the earth.
The above sky map tells us the universe is 13.7 billion years old -- but how? At first look, one only sees the microwave glow of gas from our Milky Way Galaxy, coded red, and a spotty pattern of microwaves emitted from the early universe, coded in gray. The gray cosmic microwave background is light that used to bounce around randomly but came directly to us when the expanding universe became cool enough for nearly transparent atoms to form. A close inspection of the spots reveals a slightly preferred angular distance between them. One expects such a pattern to be generated by sound emanating from slightly over-dense regions of the early universe. Sound waves will take time to generate such a pattern, and the present age of the universe can then be directly extrapolated. The above universe age is estimated to be accurate to better than 0.2 billion years. The above map was taken by the WMAP satellite orbiting the Sun at the L2 point, just outside the orbit of the Earth.
B- Qur’anic approach: In Glorious Qur’an Allah says:
((قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانظُرُوا كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الْآخِرَةَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِير)) (العنكبوت:20)
Which means: ((Travel in the land and see how (Allâh) originated creation, and then Allâh will bring forth the creation of the Hereafter (i.e. resurrection after death). Verily, Allâh is Able to do all things)). (Quran 29:20)
In this verse Allah commanded people to wake in the earth and look how creation began? The verse has different meanings; it may refer to the beginning of life where creatures appeared for the first time in the earth, or the successive appearance of organisms through time. I think that the word creation is very broad including the creation of life as well as the universe.
I think that the stages of creation mentioned in the previous verses give a key for geologist to determine the age of the universe. Such determination based in two findings:
a- Assuming that these thee stages are equal in time.
b- One stage of them represents the geologic time scale where Allah says: (( He set on the (earth), mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measured there in all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four days, in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek sustenance)). (Quran 41:10)
Then the multiplication the age of the earth by three gives the age of the universe:
Age of the universe = 3x4.56 = 13.68 billion years [oldest rock of the earth is Acasta Gneiss, Northern Canada about 3.96 Billion Years, oldest mineral crystals on Earth is Zircon, Jack Hills Conglomerate. Age of the Earth - 4.56 Billion Years]
How the sky speaks?
Allah says:
((Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) "smoke": He said to it and to earth: "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly" They said: "we do come (together) in willing obedience.)) (Quran 41:12)
Mark Whittle of the University of Virginia has analyzed the so-called background radiation that was born 400,000 years after the Big Bang. Astronomers have recaptured the sounds of the early Universe showing that it was born not with a bang but a quiet whisper ((وشوشة that became a dull roar (Kenneth Chang (2005).
Mark Whittle (2004) believes that hearing the sounds of the cosmos represents a unique perspective on the evolution of the Universe."It draws the listener closer to the subject in a different way from what images do," he told BBC News Online”.