(Mufridatul Quran- Imam Raghib)

Muhammad Munir says that cosmologists believe that life exists on other planets also, as explained by him in his article “States of consciousness”, (The Dawn, 14.9.2003): “Cosmologists believe that life also exists on other planets of the universe. The universe itself is alive; it is not dead. It exists as a unified rational order consisting of a series of successive life stages. Each life stage exists as an independent world, one upon the other. And life is an inherent urge in creation for seeking and loving its Creator, with the purpose of meeting Him (consciously or unconsciously), making efforts for developing the appropriate discipline, relative to the rational state of its enlightenment.”

"…Imam Razi..(said).. that the inhabitants of the worlds in the outer space need not necessarily have the same physical make-up as that of the inhabitants of our world which should make existence in space impossible for them, and suggests that their organic composition and the requirements for its nourishment and sustenance might just be totally different.. Imam Razi postulated these possibilities some eight hundred years ago without the help of the modern facilities for observation and exploration, yet the speculations of the scientists in the age of space travel endorse his view."

(Page 65, MA'Ariful Quran, M.M.M.Shafi).

David Stevenson, Professor of Planetary Science at California Institute of Technology, says that the rogue planets instead of being cold, icy masses meandering among the stars, could be warm bodies with dense, insulating atmospheres that trap enough volcanic heat to sustain water oceans and some types of simple life.
("Earth-like planets may harbour life”, Warren E.Leary, The Dawn, 15.3.2000).
Qatadah said: 'Every type of creation is an Aalam. Az-Zajjaj also said: " Aalam encompasses everything that Allah created, in this life and in the Hereafter". Al-Qurtubi commented: "This is the correct meaning, that the `Aalam' encompasses everything that Allah created in both worlds.

"It (Aalamiin) may also mean different zones occupied by human beings and jinns. Besides science helps us to know that there are millions of universes like ours." (Page 26, Translation by A.M. Yaqoob). There are different zones occupied by different creatures not only on or `above’ earth but `inside’ also: “Strong evidence that microbes could survive deep inside the earth was uncovered in 1995, when scientists found rock-eating organism that get their sustenance from elemental mineral energy sources..The microbes were taken from groundwater sitting in igneous basalt 4,500 feet down.. Oxygen is rare below ground, where microbiologists have found organisms that breathe an astounding variety of alternatives : ferric iron, sulphate, nitrate, nitrite uranium and carbon dioxide..Some stones appeared to house between 100,000 and 1 million microbes per gram..Some of the bugs breathe iron; some live on methane. Other might eat hydrogen freed when radiation breaks down water molecules.. The scientists even speculate that some of the deep microbes may have deposited the filigree of gold in the East Driefontein mine.” (“Finding life in the depths of the earth”, Kevin Krajick, Dawn/NYT Science Service, The Dawn, 15.3.2000)

The term Aalam may be clarified with reference to heavens and earth, as follows:

Aalam: Kingdom (as animal), time, age, epoch, elements, creatures, men, people. (F.Steingass)
Universe comprises:

`Samaa': All those things above or spread above (heavenly), celestial bodies, life and system of the heavens, including all the energies and forces spread in the skies/ heavens.
Ardz: All those things below, commonly known Earth ( Planet), Sole of the shoe, Part of the leg below the knee, Social, economic and cultural life of man.
Al Ardzu was-Samaawaat: All the universes, their `Above' and `Below' including all celestial and terrestrial bodies, energies, forces, systems, etc.
Ardz has been used in singular but the Samaawaat have been used in plural also.

(Pharaoh) "said: 'And what is the Lord of the 'Aalamiin'?
Musa (Moses) said: `The Lord of the heavens and the earth,
and all that is between them, if you seek to be convinced with certainty".
From different lexical explanations it appears that the term 'Aalamiin’ covers multitude and multiplicity of creations - themselves, and their different generations, spaces, modes and times.
For different usages, nuances, meanings also refer pages 608 to 609
(Al-Muajamul Mufahris, Muhammad Fawwad Abdul Baqi).