Six Or Eight Days Creation?
Exposing Another Failed Attempt of Reconciling the Irreconcilable
Bassam Zawadi has now joined a long of list Muslims who have tried to make sense and harmonize the Quran’s gross contradictions concerning the order of creation.
In this article, Zawadi attempts to make sense out of the creation account found in Q. 41:9-12 and tries to address some of our articles and responses which can be found here:
Qur'an Contradiction: Six or eight days of creation?
Responses to Understanding-Islam "Days": The Interpretation of Traditional Muslim Scholars
Response to Zakir Naik's Claims for the Quran – Appendix: The Quranic Account of Creation and Science
The Quran’s Confusion Over The Days of Creation: A Response to MENJ’s Six or Eight Days of Creation?
Further discussion on the Quran Contradiction: Six or Eight Days of Creation?
We encourage the readers to carefully examine Zawadi’s “reply” before reading this one. And before we even proceed with our rebuttal we first need to quote the passage in question so that the readers can follow along our discussion:
Say (O Muhammad): "Do you verily disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in two Days and you set up rivals (in worship) with Him? That is the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists). He placed therein (i.e. the earth) firm mountains from above it, and He blessed it, and measured therein its sustenance (for its dwellers) in four Days equal (i.e. all these four 'days' were equal in the length of time), for all those who ask (about its creation). THEN He Istawa (rose over) towards the heaven when it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth: "Come both of you willingly or unwillingly." They both said: "We come, willingly." Then He completed and finished from their creation (as) seven heavens in two Days and He made in each heaven its affair. And We adorned the nearest (lowest) heaven with lamps (stars) to be an adornment as well as to guard (from the devils by using them as missiles against the devils). Such is the Decree of Him the All-Mighty, the All-Knower. S. 41:9-12 Hilali-Khan
It is evident from the plain reading of the passage that Muhammad actually believed that Allah created the earth and its sustenance before he created the heavens, and that it took him a total eight days to do so (2+4+2=8)!
This stands in stark contradiction to all the other Quranic verses which say that it only took Allah six days to create everything:
And indeed We created the heavens and the earth AND ALL BETWEEN THEM in six Days and nothing of fatigue touched Us. S. 50:38 Hilali-Khan; cf. Q. 7:54; 10:3; 11:7; 25:59; 57:4
Zawadi proposes the following two contradictory interpretations:
First Response (a more traditional response): Verse 10 of Surah 41 encompasses verse 9 where the two days mentioned in verse 9 are included under the four days mentioned in verse 10. Hence, verses 9 and 10 together do not speak about six days, but four days only. Then verse 12 speaks about two days, which then gives us six days.
Second Response (a more modern response): We assume that verses 9 and 10 are separate from one another and indeed add up to six days, however verse 11's mentioning of the word thumma (and then going on to speak about the seven firmaments of heaven) implies a parallel act as opposed to being a sequential act. So in this way it's not eight days, but six days of creation.
Most of my readers know me to be a person who usually favors traditional responses, hence in this paper I will be seeking to only address those arguments against the first response that have not been addressed already and will not be providing a defense of the second view.
Since Zawadi adopts the first view we will therefore focus on that. Zawadi proceeds to quote the harmonization of the following Salafi scholar:
Perhaps the confusion which is mentioned in the question stems from this, i.e., from thinking that the four days are added to the two days in which the earth was created, equaling six, and then adding the two days in which the heavens were created ("Then He completed and finished from their creation (as) seven heavens in two Days") - making a total of eight days, not six days. But this confusion can be dispelled by dealing with this mistaken notion. So the earth was created in two days, and the mountains were created and the sustenance measured in two more days which makes a total of four, i.e., this took the other two days. Then the creation of the seven heavens took two days. So the total is six days of the Days of Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted. (Shaykh Al-Munajjid, Fatwa No. 31865. Were the heavens and the earth created in six days or eight?)
By embracing the traditional interpretation Zawadi is basically proposing the following sequence:
1. Allah first created the earth in two days (Q. 41:9). This is the view of noted Muslim commentators such as Ibn Kathir:
(Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days) (7:54), is explained in more detail; the creation of the earth and the creation of the heaven are discussed separately. Allah says that He created the earth FIRST, because it is the foundation, and the foundation SHOULD BE BUILT FIRST, then the roof. Allah says elsewhere… (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 41:10; bold and capital emphasis ours)
2. He created the mountains and the earth’s sustenance in 4 days (Q. 41:10).
3. Part of the four days of creating the earth’s nourishments encompass the two days that it took Allah to create the earth, which means that the days of vv. 9-10 overlap with one another.
4. Allah then turned to the heaven when it was still smoke and proceeded to fashion it into seven heavens and created the stars in 2 days (Q. 41:11-12).
5. This gives us a total of six days in which it took Allah to create the earth and the heavens, which agrees with the other Quranic verses which we mentioned.
To simplify this further, Zawadi contends that the Quran teaches the following:
- Allah created the earth, its mountains and nourishments in a total of four days.
- Allah then created the heavens and all its stars in another two days.
- Allah, therefore, created everything that exists in a total of six days.
In his haste to defend the indefensible and harmonize the Quran’s irreconcilable contradictions, Zawadi didn’t realize that his preferred interpretation means that the Muslim “holy” book is in conflict with science. Zawadi has proven that the Quran contradicts what science teaches concerning the order of creation.
According to the scientific community, the heavens and the stars existed billions of years before the earth came into being. Zawadi, however, believes that the earth and all that is within it were actually created before the heavens and the stars!
Compare what the Quran says with what science is telling us regarding the origin of creation:
Quranic View
Allah created the earth and all that is within it before he created the heavens and the stars.
Scientific View
The heavens and the stars existed billions of years before the earth came about.
Therefore, Zawadi’s interpretation implies that the Muslim scripture is mistaken since it is in conflict with modern science! So much for the assertion that the Quran is “completely compatible with modern scientific discoveries.”
Now if the Quran were truly scientifically accurate then the order of Q. 41:9-11 should have been:
- Allah turned to the heaven when it was still smoke and turned it into seven heavens.
- Allah created the lamps which govern the lower heavens.
- Allah then created the earth and all its nourishments.
There are additional problems with what the Quran says, namely the assertion that the heaven was still smoke when the earth was formed and that he then fashioned it into seven heavens. Dr. William F. Campbell explains:
These verses say that at some point in time the sky or heaven was made out of smoke. Smoke includes organic particles. Therefore this is clearly false because at the time of a primordial gaseous state no organic matter would be found in it. Furthermore nebulae which might have been supposed to be planetary forerunners, are much too dilute to be thought of as "suspending" anything. One has only very dilute gas molecules, a few per ml, and occasional grains of dust.
Also, if it speaks of some early primordial gaseous stage, the earth and sky should have been "smoke" together: but the passage says that there were firm mountains and nourishment on the earth while the heaven was still "smoke". Clearly these verses have serious astronomical errors. (Campbell, The Qur'an and the Bible in the light of history and science, Section One. Prologue, Chapter II. Basic Assumptions Peculiar To Dr. Bucaille's Books)
The other problem is with the claim that the stars adorn the lowest heavens, a point which the Quran repeats elsewhere:
He Who created the seven heavens one above another: No want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (God) Most Gracious. So turn thy vision again: seest thou any flaw? … And we have, (from of old), adorned the lowest heaven with Lamps, and We have made such (Lamps) (as) missiles to drive away the Evil Ones, and have prepared for them the Penalty of the Blazing Fire. S. 67:3-5 Y. Ali
To make matters worse, the moon is said to be in the midst of these heavens!
See ye not how God has created the seven heavens one above another, And made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (Glorious) Lamp? S. 71:15-16 Y. Ali
Christian writer and fellow colleague Jochen Katz explains why this is a serious problem:
The Qur'an seems to teach that there are seven heavens, one above the other, whether it was imagined to be like storeys in a high building (flat layers) or like shells or the layers of an onion.
As a poetic way of expression this is acceptable, even though there are, scientifically speaking, no discernable stages in the universe that would allow us to differentiate between those various heavens.
However, the Qur'an specifically assigns the stars to a lower or even the lowest heaven, while it states the relationship of the moon to the totality of the seven heavens is that it is "in them" (fehinna). This gives the impression that the moon is at least as far away as the stars if not further.
But everyone knows today that the stars are much much further away from the earth than the moon. This is not a small difference, it is an issue of several magnitudes. The average distance from the earth to the moon is 384,400 km, while Proxima Centauri, the closest star to us outside of the solar system, is already about 4.3 light years = 40,682,300,000,000 km (40 trillion kilometers) away, or expressed differently, we need to multiply the distance of the moon by more than 100 million to reach even the nearest of all the stars.
Had the Qur'an formulated "and the moon in the middle of them" then this would have been unambiguously wrong. The formulation "in them" is vague enough to still allow the possibility of the moon to be in the lowest heaven as well. The wording of the Qur'an is certainly less than scientific in this instance and suggesting wrong notions even though it is sufficiently vague to not make it a clear error. It does, however, throw substantial doubt on the claim that God made the Qur'an scientifically as a proof of its divine origin. (The Location of the Moon and the Stars)
Next, Zawadi attempts to deal with my assertion that Q. 79:27-33 contradicts the creation order of Q. 41:9-12. Here is the passage in question:
Are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that He built? He raised the height thereof and ordered it; And He made dark the night thereof, and He brought forth the morn thereof. AND AFTER THAT (bad'a) He spread the earth, And produced therefrom the water thereof and the pasture thereof, And He made fast the hills, A provision for you and for your cattle. S. 79:27-33 Pickthall
According to this version, the earth and its nourishments were only created after the heavens were already formed!
Now notice what Zawadi has to say about this blatant mistake:
However, this passage no where[sic] states that the heavens were created before the earth was created. Rather, the verse is speaking about the "spreading" of the earth.
Imam Al-Tabari in his commentary on Surah 79:30 mentions the difference of opinion regarding this passage. He provides citations from Ibn Abbass who said in one citation that Allah created the earth with its food and nourishments before the heavens without spreading the earth. Then He made the heaven into seven firmaments and then afterwards He spread the earth. (Source). In another narration Ibn Abbass said that the nourishments and plants are not good without day and night and Allah only spread the earth until after the sky came. (Source). Despite these narrations from Ibn Abbass being weak, the validity of the argument could still be accepted. Al-Tabari views this to be the apparent reading of the text; however Al-Tabari did present a different view where he cited the likes of Mujahid and Al-Suddi who said the spreading of the earth occurred along with the heaven being made into seven firmaments. They argued that linguistically ba'ada thalika translated as "afterwards" in verse 30 doesn't necessarily have to mean "afterwards" and present Surah 21:105 & 68:13 as examples.
It is somewhat amusing to see that Zawadi contented himself with merely reporting three contradictory attempts of harmonizing the Quran’s errors which he found listed in al-Tabari, but somehow “forgot” to choose which one of the three he believes to be true. It becomes even more amusing when one realizes that not even one of the three is compatible with Zawadi’s preferred interpretation of Q. 41:9-12.
It is obvious that Zawadi didn’t bother reading or pondering over the passages carefully. He fails to see how these suggested harmonizations create more problems than solutions.
In the first place, Ibn Abbas’ proposed interpretation that Allah made the earth and its nourishments before he spread it out simply makes no sense, directly contradicting Q. 79:27-33 which it was supposed to explain, and also contradicting Q. 41:9-10. According to the latter passage, the creation and formation of the earth were all completed before the heavens were made:
Say (O Muhammad, unto the idolaters): Disbelieve ye verily in Him Who created the earth in two Days, and ascribe ye unto Him rivals? He (and none else) is the Lord of the Worlds. He placed therein firm hills rising above it, and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four Days, alike for (all) who ask; Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedient. Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower. S. 41:9-12 Pickthall
Carefully notice that there is absolutely nothing about Allah waiting until after the heavens were formed to spread out the earth. The passage is clear that Allah had already created all the necessary conditions required for life to flourish on the earth before he formed and fashioned the heavens.
One such condition would have to be the spreading out or flattening of the earth, since the life-permitting elements could not flourish otherwise. After all, how could there be hills, mountains, plantation etc. before the earth had been flattened out, especially when the mountains and hills were formed for the purpose of keeping the earth stable according to the Quran?
And He cast on the earth firm mountains, lest it shake with you, and rivers and ways; so haply you will be guided; S. 16:15
Have not the unbelievers then beheld that the heavens and the earth were a mass all sewn up, and then We unstitched them and of water fashioned every living thing? Will they not believe? And We set in the earth firm mountains lest it should shake with them, and We set in it ravines to serve as ways, that haply so they may be guided; S. 21:30-31 Arberry
He has created the heavens without any pillars, that you see and has set on the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you. And He has scattered therein moving (living) creatures of all kinds. And We send down water (rain) from the sky, and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein. S. 31:10
As one commentary explains it:
And the earth (wa’l-arda, is a supplement to the position of the words ilā l-samā’i, ‘at the heaven’), how, We have spread it out, [how] We have rolled it across the face of the water, and cast in it firm mountains, TO FIX IT IN PLACE, and caused every delightful kind, [every delightful] specimen, causing delight by its [very] beauty, to grow in it, (Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Q. 50:7; bold and capital emphasis ours)
In light of this, does Zawadi really want us to actually believe that Allah already created the mountains to stabilize an earth that wasn’t ready to be stabilized since it hadn’t been spread out yet? Does that even make sense?
More importantly, this view contradicts other passages of the Quran which place the formation of the mountains and the earth’s sustenance together with the spreading of the earth:
And the earth We spread out, and placed therein firm mountains, and caused to grow therein all kinds of things in due proportion. S. 15:19 Hilali-Khan
And the earth! We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and have produced therein every kind of lovely growth (plants). S. 50:7 Hilali-Khan
These verses expressly link the spreading of the earth together with the creation of its mountains and nourishments. If any sequence is implied, then we have to take seriously that in each of these verses the “spreading it out” is always stated before “placing therein mountains” and the growth of plants are mentioned. This makes perfect sense from the Quranic perspective since the author(s) assumed that once the earth had been spread out it would then require mountains to prevent it from shaking.
Q. 79:30-33 makes the same point:
And after that He spread the earth; And BROUGHT FORTH THEREFROM its water and its pasture; And the mountains He has fixed firmly; (To be) a provision and benefit for you and your cattle. Hilali-Khan
Now isn’t it obvious that the plain reading of this passage is that Allah brought forth the earth’s sustenance and made the mountains firm AFTER he had already spread out the earth?
In fact, according to Ibn Kathir, this was the interpretation held by scholars such as Ibn Abbas and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari!
With regard to the Ayat…
(Are you more difficult to create or is the heaven that He constructed He raised its height, and has perfected it. Its night He covers with darkness and its forenoon He brings out (with light). And after that He spread the earth, And brought forth therefrom its water and its pasture. And the mountains He has fixed firmly, (to be) a provision and benefit for you and your cattle.) (79:27-33)
This Ayah states that the spreading out of the earth came after the creation of the heavens, but the earth itself was created before the heavens according to some texts. This was the response of Ibn `Abbas as recorded by Al-Bukhari in his Tafsir of this Ayah in his Sahih. He recorded that Sa`id bin Jubayr said: "A man said to Ibn `Abbas saying: `I find some things in the Qur'an which confuse me…
And Allah says…
(Are you more difficult to create or is the heaven that He constructed) until…
(And after that He spread the earth.) (79:27-30) So He mentioned the creation of the heavens before the earth, then He said…
(Say: "Do you verily disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in two Days…”) until…
(We come willingly.) Here He mentioned the creation of the earth BEFORE the creation of the heavens… Ibn `Abbas replied…
Allah created the earth in two days, then He created the heavens, then He (Istawa ila) the heaven and gave it its shape in two more days. THEN He spread the earth, WHICH MEANS HE BROUGHT FORTH THEREFROM ITS WATER AND ITS PASTURE. And He created the mountains, sands, inanimate things, rocks and hills and everything in between, in two more days. This is what Allah says…
((He) spread (the earth)) (79:30) And Allah's saying…
((He) created the earth in two Days) So He created the earth and everything in it in four days, and He created the heavens in two days. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 41:9-12; bold and capital emphasis ours)
And:
(And after that He spread the earth,) He explains this statement by the statement that follows it…
(And brought forth therefrom its water and its pasture.) It already has been mentioned previously in Surat Ha Mim As-Sajdah that the earth was created before the heaven was created, but it was only spread out after the creation of the heaven. This means THAT HE BROUGHT OUT WHAT WAS IN IT WITH A FORCEFUL ACTION. This is the meaning of what was said by Ibn `Abbas and others, and it was the explanation PREFERRED BY IBN JARIR.
In reference to the statement of Allah…
(And the mountains He has fixed firmly,) meaning, He settled them, made them firm, and established them in their places. And He is the Most Wise, the All-Knowing. He is Most Kind to His creation, Most Merciful. Allah then says…
(As provision and benefit for you and your cattle.) meaning, He spread out the earth, caused its springs to gush forth, brought forth its hidden benefits, caused its rivers to flow, and caused its vegetation, trees, and fruits to grow. He also made its mountains firm so that it (the earth) would be calmly settled with its dwellers, and He stabilized its dwelling places. All of this is a means of beneficial enjoyment for His creatures (mankind) providing them of what cattle they need, which they eat and ride upon. He has granted them these beneficial things for the period that they need them, in this worldly abode, until the end of time and the expiration of this life. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 79:27-33)
Yet this explanation introduces more problems since it presupposes the following order:
- Allah created the earth in two days, but did not spread it out.
- Allah then created the heavens and the stars in two days.
- After he had finished with the heavens and the stars Allah then spread out the earth and brought out its nourishments and mountains in four days.
Therefore, according to this view it actually took Allah eight days to create everything, not six! It also contradicts the sequence of Q. 41:9-12 which has the earth and its sustenance being created before the heavens, which is the very view that Zawadi embraces!
Now Zawadi may respond by saying that Ibn Abbas did not say that the earth’s nourishment was made in four days, but in two. However, this makes absolutely no sense and actually contradicts the plain reading of Q. 41:9-12. After all, if the four days in which it took Allah to make the earth’s nourishment and mountains overlap with the two days it took him to create the earth then that means some aspects of the earth’s sustenance must have been made before the heavens were created and the earth was spread out.
Yet this contradicts both Q. 79:29-33 and Ibn Abbas’ explanation, since they claim that the earth’s mountains and sustenance were created only after the earth had been flattened out, which supposedly occurred after the heavens were already made!
Al-Suddi’s harmonization doesn’t fair any better because his view would imply that the heavens, the spreading of the earth, and the creation of its provisions were all created simultaneously. Carefully notice what he says:
Al-Suddi who said the spreading of the earth occurred along with the heaven being made into seven firmaments. They argued that linguistically ba'ada thalika translated as "afterwards" in verse 30 doesn't necessarily have to mean "afterwards" and present Surah 21:105 & 68:13 as examples.
Notice the implication of this position. Allah formed the heavens and spread out the earth at the same time. Since the creation of the earth’s sustenance occurs after the flattening out of the earth this implies that the four days of Q. 41:10 and 41:12 overlap with one another. However, according to Zawadi’s preferred interpretation, the four days of Q. 41:10 also overlap with the first two days of Q. 41:9. Thus, when we take both of these proposed views together this is what we end up with:
- Allah created the earth and a part of its sustenance in two days.
- Allah then created the seven heavens, spread out the earth and formed the rest of its nourishments in another two days.
This means that it only took Allah four days to create the entire universe, which again contradicts all those other verses which say it actually took six days.
Finally, here is what Al-Tabari had to say to all those commentators of the Quran that tried to deny that the Arabic word ba’da in Q. 79:31 literally means “afterwards”:
Someone might say: You realize that a number of interpreters have considered God's word: "And it was the earth that He spread out thereafter," to mean: "He spread out simultaneously" (attributing to the preposition ba'da "after" the meaning of ma'a "together [simultaneous] with"). Now, what is your evidence for the soundness of your statement that we have here the meaning of "after", the opposite of "before"? The reply would be: The meaning of "after" generally known in Arabic speech, as we have said, is that of the opposite of "before," and not "simultaneous with." Now, word meanings considered applicable are those that are preponderant and generally known among speakers (of a language), and no others are. (The History of al-Tabari, Volume 1 - General Introduction and from the Creation to the Flood (trans. Franz Rosenthal, State University of New York Press, Albany 1989), p. 216; bold emphasis ours)
Concluding Remarks
In order to help the readers more clearly see the mass confusion and contradictions with all of these desperate attempts of harmonizing the Quran’s irreconcilable differences in regards to the creation account, we provide a summary of the various views concerning the order of creation.
Scientific View
- Heavens.
- Stars.
- Earth.
- Earth’s sustenance.
Zawadi’s view
- Earth.
- Earth’s sustenance.
- Heavens.
- Stars.
Ibn Abbas’ view (according to Ibn Kathir)
- Earth.
- Heavens.
- The spreading of the Earth.
- Earth’s sustenance.
Al-Suddi’s View
- Earth.
- Heavens, the spreading of the earth, and its sustenance.
We then have the problem of reconciling the days of creation with all of these conflicting views. When we try to make sense out of the various harmonizations offered by the Muslim scholars, and interpret them in light of what the Quran itself says, these are the implications that we end up with.
Zawadi’s View
- Earth and its sustenance created in four days.
- Heavens and stars created in two days.
- Six total days altogether.
Ibn Abbas’ view as interpreted in light of the Quran’s creation accounts
- Earth created in two days without being spread out.
- Heavens and stars created in two days.
- Earth spread out and its sustenance created in four days.
- Eight days total.
Al-Suddi’s view as interpreted in light of the Quran’s creation accounts
- Earth and a part of its sustenance created in two days.
- Heavens, the spreading of the earth, and the rest of its sustenance created in another two days.
- Four days total.
Even though Ibn Abbas and al-Suddi didn’t break down the days and order of creation in the exact manner proposed above, nevertheless, this is what we end up with when we interpret their claims in light of the explicit sequence given in the Quran’s contradictory accounts of creation.
Thus, not only does the Quran contradict modern science it also contradicts itself, proving that it is not from God. The Quran is the book which a false prophet compiled by the assistance of a lying, deceptive spirit who used him to keep countless numbers of individuals away from the true God and his true message.
In conclusion, we want to encourage Zawadi to continue with his mission of discrediting Islam and exposing its lies, deceptions, and errors. Zawadi doesn’t realize that every time he writes another article to defend his religion and/or to refute our criticisms of his faith, he is only giving us more opportunities to show why no rational, intelligent person should ever consider following Muhammad or believe in his god. For that we are truly thankful to Zawadi and want to highly encourage him to keep up the great work of helping us achieve our goals.
Lord willing, I will be rebutting the rest of the points which Zawadi raised in the near future.