Is it true that the earth has two movements or not? And are there verses indicating this, or the opposite? And where are Paradise and Hellfire, and are there verses indicating that?

The questioner : By the message of the listener, 'Aal Saleh, he says: "May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, I hope you will inform me, O honorable Shaykh Muhammad, may Allah guide you to what He loves and is pleased with. Is it true that the earth has two movements or not? And are there verses indicating this, or the opposite? Then inform us where Paradise and Hellfire are located, and are there verses indicating that? May Allah guide you to all good and benefit all Muslims with your knowledge. Finally, O honorable Shaykh, I tell you that I love you in Allah greatly, and I am among those who listen to your words, whether on tapes or in the program *Nur 'ala al-Darb*, and among those who read what you write in books. So from me to you is abundant thanks, after thanks to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings." 'Aal Saleh. I read the entire message, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. Then, I thank the brother questioner for his love for me in Allah, and I hope that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) makes that a reality, and that I am among those who love and are loved in Allah (Mighty and Majestic). I ask Allah the Exalted to love him as I love him in Him. And I say to him and to whoever listens to my words: indeed, among the strongest ties of faith is love in Allah and hatred in Allah. So a person’s love should follow the love of Allah and His Messenger, meaning that he loves what Allah and His Messenger love of words, deeds, states, times, places, and people, so that he may be among the awliya (close friends of Allah) (Mighty and Majestic), whom He loves and who love Him.
As for what concerns his question, he asked about several things. He asked whether the earth has two movements or not, and whether there are verses indicating this or the opposite. I say that researching this is among the superfluous matters of knowledge and is not among the creedal matters that a person must investigate and act upon according to what the evidence requires. Therefore, this matter was not clarified in the Noble Qur'an in an explicit manner that does not allow for debate. Some people say that the earth has two movements: a movement by which the seasons differ, and another movement by which the night and day differ. They say that the statement of Allah the Exalted indicates this. The way of indication in their view is that the negation of swaying is evidence for the original movement, for if the original movement did not exist, the negation of swaying would be a vain saying with no benefit. They say that this indicates the perfection of the power of Allah, that this earth, which is this large body, moves without swaying the people or disturbing them, even though Allah (Mighty and Majestic), if He wills, moves it, and earthquakes and eclipses occur.
And some of the scholars say, no, the earth does not move, but it is stationary, due to the statement of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) , meaning it shakes, and due to His statement the Exalted , and because Allah the Exalted made the earth a stable place upon which people settle, and this contradicts it having a movement. Whether it is this or that, occupying oneself with such matters is not of great benefit. It is said: if it moves while being in this complete stability, this is evidence of the perfection of the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And if it does not move, then Allah the Exalted is the One who created it and made it stationary so it does not move. But the thing I see is that it is necessary for us to believe that the sun is the one that revolves around the earth, and it is by it that the night and day differ, because Allah the Exalted attributed rising and setting to the sun, so He said the Exalted . These are four actions, all attributed to the sun: when it rises, when it sets, it inclines, it recedes. All are actions attributed to the sun. The original rule is that an action is not attributed except to its doer or to the one who performed it, meaning the one who performed this action. So it is not said "Zayd died" when it is meant "Amr died," and it is not said "Zayd stood up" when it is meant "Amr stood up." So if Allah says , the meaning is not that the earth revolved until we saw the sun, because if the earth were the one revolving and the rising of the sun differed according to the revolution, it would not be said that the sun rose, but rather it would be said "we rose to the sun" or "the earth rose to the sun."
And likewise, Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said in the story of Sulayman , meaning the sun , and He did not say "until it was hidden from them by a veil." And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abu Dharr at the setting of the sun . He said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said , so he attributed the departure to the sun.
So the apparent meaning of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is that the difference between night and day occurs by the revolution of the sun around the earth, and this is what we must believe, unless there is a decisive sensory evidence that justifies for us to divert the texts from their apparent meanings to what agrees with this decisive text. This is because the original rule in the reports of Allah and His Messenger is that they are to be taken at their apparent meaning until a decisive evidence arises to divert them from their apparent meaning, because on the Day of Resurrection we will be asked about what these texts require according to the apparent meaning. So it is obligatory for us to believe their apparent meaning, unless a decisive evidence is found that justifies for us to divert them from this apparent meaning. This is the answer to the first question.
And as for his saying, "Inform us where Paradise and Hellfire are located," the answer to it is that we say: Paradise is in the highest of the highest, and Hellfire is in Sijjin, and Sijjin is in the lowest earth, as came in the hadith . And as for Paradise, it is above, in the highest of the highest. And it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) . May Allah the Exalted make us among its people.

The questioner : O Allah, amen.