Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days)
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Exegesis of His saying, the Exalted: (It is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days)
Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Hadid: 4] (Created the heavens and the earth): He brought them into existence, Mighty and Majestic, with all order and measure. The heavens are seven and the earths are seven, and the earth preceded the heavens because Allah the Exalted said in Surat Fussilat, when mentioning the creation of the earth: [Fussilat: 11] He created the heavens and the earth, the earth before the creation of the heavens. But Allah begins with the heavens because they are more noble than the earth and higher than the earth.
How are the heavens? Are they wrapped in a single layer? Or is there a distance between them? There is a distance, a very, very great distance. This necessitates that the smallest of the heavens is the lowest heaven, followed by the second, and the third, each one wider than the other, with a vast expanse, and they are aligned one above the other. In the hadith of the Mi'raj, it is stated that whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ascended to a heaven, he asked for permission to enter, and it was opened for him.
And Allah the Exalted made the earth in the Qur'an in the singular form; the plural is "earths." You will not find (earths) in the Qur'an; it only comes as (earth). But Allah indicated that they are multiple in His saying: [Al-Talaq: 12] meaning: similar to them in number, not in attribute, because the similarity in attribute between the earth and the heavens is very far-fetched. But they are similar to them in number, and the Sunnah explicitly stated this in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (Whoever seizes a span of land unjustly, Allah will encircle him with it on the Day of Resurrection from seven earths).
He created them in six days. How many days are they? Allah the Exalted left it unspecified, whether the day is fifty thousand years or less or more. And when it is left unspecified, it is taken to be the known and customary, which are our days. It has come in the hadith that they are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Friday is the end of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and its beginning is Sunday. There is no creation in Saturday, neither beginning nor end.If someone were to say: Is not Allah capable of creating them in an instant?
Yes,Because when He wills a thing, He says to it: Be, and it is,Therefore: Why was it in six days?I answer that with two answers: First: These created things are arranged one after another, so Allah arranged them one after another until He perfected them and finished with them in six days.
The second: That Allah taught His servants composure and deliberation, and that the more important thing is the perfection of the thing, not just its completion. So that a person should be deliberate in what he makes, even if he could complete it in an hour, he should be deliberate, even if he could complete it in two hours. So Allah the Exalted, Glorified is He, taught His servants deliberation in matters they are capable of, and both matters are sound.
Allah the Exalted said:
It is He who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He knows what penetrates into the earth and what emerges from it and what descends from the heaven and what ascends therein
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنْزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَاThen He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly."
ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ائْتِيَا طَوْعاً أَوْ كَرْهاً قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَHow are the heavens? Are they wrapped in a single layer? Or is there a distance between them? There is a distance, a very, very great distance. This necessitates that the smallest of the heavens is the lowest heaven, followed by the second, and the third, each one wider than the other, with a vast expanse, and they are aligned one above the other. In the hadith of the Mi'raj, it is stated that whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ascended to a heaven, he asked for permission to enter, and it was opened for him.
And Allah the Exalted made the earth in the Qur'an in the singular form; the plural is "earths." You will not find (earths) in the Qur'an; it only comes as (earth). But Allah indicated that they are multiple in His saying:
It is Allah who has created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them
اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَمِنَ الْأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّHe created them in six days. How many days are they? Allah the Exalted left it unspecified, whether the day is fifty thousand years or less or more. And when it is left unspecified, it is taken to be the known and customary, which are our days. It has come in the hadith that they are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Friday is the end of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and its beginning is Sunday. There is no creation in Saturday, neither beginning nor end.If someone were to say: Is not Allah capable of creating them in an instant?
Yes,Because when He wills a thing, He says to it: Be, and it is,Therefore: Why was it in six days?I answer that with two answers: First: These created things are arranged one after another, so Allah arranged them one after another until He perfected them and finished with them in six days.
The second: That Allah taught His servants composure and deliberation, and that the more important thing is the perfection of the thing, not just its completion. So that a person should be deliberate in what he makes, even if he could complete it in an hour, he should be deliberate, even if he could complete it in two hours. So Allah the Exalted, Glorified is He, taught His servants deliberation in matters they are capable of, and both matters are sound.