Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And the earth, We have spread it out and placed therein firm mountains.”

The Shaykh : “And the earth, We have spread it out”: That is, We made it extended and suitable for dwelling upon it, not curved in a way that would hinder dwelling upon it, but rather extended. This extension is not the extension mentioned in His saying: because the second extension, which occurs on the Day of Resurrection, is an extension in which the earth is spread out, stretched like the stretching of a hide, that is, skin. It will not be a sphere as it is now, but rather it will be stretched out in a single plane, and the mountains, trees, and valleys will be removed, and Allah the Exalted will leave it as a flat, level plain, in which you will see no crookedness or elevation.
These mountains are described by Allah the Exalted as anchors, and in another place as pegs. The scholars, the geologists, have said that these mountains have roots in the interior of the earth; they have roots just as a peg in a wall has roots that hold it. And these mountains are stable; the winds do not shake them, no matter how fiercely they blow. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created them for great benefits, among which is protecting the earth from swaying, as Allah the Exalted said: And among them is that they protect those behind them from fierce winds and biting cold, as is observed on the slopes of the mountains. And among them is that in the mountains there are mountain trees that do not grow in the desert. And also, in the peaks of the mountains there are strong, precious minerals that are not found at the bottom, as the earth scientists know. And for that reason He said: .