Dear Ali: With all this talk of space exploration and whether there’s life outside our beautiful planet, what does the Quran have to say about aliens and life on other planets? And should we discover life on another planet, how should we react? JS, Abu Dhabi

Dear JS: I’ve noticed that interest in this topic has increased since the UAE announced its first spaceship to travel to Mars by 2021. I’m not sure if there is life out there, though. I guess maybe we’ll see in the future.

It’s not a secret that the majority of us first heard about aliens via the medium of Hollywood movies, particularly the legendary Star Wars. I don’t actually remember if it was the first film that I watched about extraterrestrials, but it captured the imagination of an entire generation.

In the West, ufology is an established medium that is trying to study this matter and bring some proof to the table. In the Arab world, however, this subject is viewed in a different way.

Yes, Muslims’ beliefs are based on the Quran, and it teaches us that as well as human beings, God created many other creatures, the existence of which we don’t fully know yet.

So there are some people who take that as an explanation about aliens and the possible existence of life on other planets.

But there are some Muslims whose opinion is that all of the UFO “sightings” around the world are simply myths and there’s no conclusive proof – even if there are unidentified objects flying around the Earth, they think this could be a type of spirit, called djinn. Djinn are mentioned in the Quran, and have certain abilities and powers.

But most Muslims don’t really worry that much about aliens or whether there’s life on other planets, because it’s just not something they focus on a lot during their school studies or daily lives.

If life on other planets is discovered, I trust that the reaction will depend on the doctrine that Muslims follow, but either way, we will maintain our belief that all of these creatures are creations of our God.

One last thing worth noting is that the UAE is sending out these satellites and exploration trips not so much to find life on other planets, but for wider types of research and scientific studies.

Personally, I totally believe that ET, the famous Hollywood movie character, is simply a cute, sad alien who was dreamt up for a film. Sorry to spoil the illusion.

Ali Al Saloom is a cultural adviser and public speaker from the UAE. Follow @AskAli on Twitter, and visit www.ask-ali.com to ask him a question and to find his guidebooks to the UAE, priced at Dh50.