Is it possible for intelligent extraterrestrial beings to exist, and is it permissible to read a story that discusses human life in space?

As for the existence of intelligent or unintelligent extraterrestrial beings, whether divinely obligated or not, it is possible. However, there is no definitive proof of their existence or non-existence. A group of scholars has affirmed this possibility, citing the verse: "And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and of all the creatures that He has dispersed therein" (Quran 42:29). Some of them believe that the creatures might be specific to Earth. As for reading stories about human life in space, this falls under the ruling of reading fictional stories.