Sam Shamoun
The Quran in S. 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, and 25:59 clearly teaches that God created
"the heavens and the earth" in six days. The issue centers on the fact of
whether these days are meant literally, or do they refer to God creating the
universe over an indefinite period of time.
In this paper we will be examining the earliest Muslim sources in order to
test the modern Muslim claims that the Quran, in agreement with modern
scientific discoveries, teaches that the earth is actually billions of years
old. The purpose for doing so is that modern Muslim Apologists often use this as
an evidence that the Quran, unlike the Holy Bible, goes hand- in- hand with
scientific fact. It is therefore presumed that this proves that the Quran is the
word of God whereas the Bible is not.
Our first citation comes from Sahih Muslim, Chapter MCLV, The beginning of
creation and the creation of Adam, Hadith No. 6707:
Abu Huraira reported that Allah's Messenger (mpbuh) took hold of my hands
and said: Allah the Exalted and Glorious, created the clay on Saturday and He
created the mountains on Sunday and He created the trees on Monday and He
created the things entailing labour on Tuesday and created light on Wednesday
and He caused animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam (pbuh) after 'Asr
on Friday; the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, ie.
Between afternoon and night.
This Hadith sounds the death knell for any Muslim trying to interpret the
days of the Quran as indefinite periods of time. Furthermore, this Hadith leaves
us with a scientific difficulty since it states that light, i.e. sun, was not
created until Wednesday, after the creation of vegetation such as trees. This
becomes more evident in the following traditions.
The following traditions are taken entirely from 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), pp. 187-193:
"We have stated before that time is but hours of night and day and that the
hours are but traversal by the sun and the moon of the degrees of the sphere.
Now then, this being so, there is (also) a sound tradition from the
Messenger of God told us by Hannad b. al-Sari, who also said that he read
all of the hadith (to Abu Bakr)- Abu Bakr b. 'Ayyash- Abu Sa'd al-Baqqal-
'Ikrimah- Ibn Abbas: The Jews came to the Prophet and asked him about the
creation of the heavens and the earth. He said: God created the earth on Sunday
and Monday. He created the mountains and the uses they possess on Tuesday. On
Wednesday, He created trees, water, cities and the cultivated barren land.
These are four (days). He continued (citing the Qur'an): 'Say: Do you really not
believe in the One Who created the earth in two days, and set up others like
Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. He made it firmly anchored (mountains)
above it and blessed it and decreed that it contain the amount of food it
provides, (all) in four days, equally for those asking'- for those who ask.
On Thursday, He created heaven. On Friday, He created the stars, the
sun, the moon, and the angels, until three hours remained. In the first of
these three hours He created the terms (of human life), who would live and who
would die. In the second, He cast harm upon everything that is useful for
mankind. And in the third, (He created) Adam and had him dwell in Paradise. He
commanded Iblis to prostrate himself before Adam, and He drove Adam out of
Paradise at the end of the hour. When the Jews asked: What then, Muhammad? He
said: 'Then He sat straight upon the Throne.' The Jews said: You are right, if
you had finished, they said, with: Then He rested. Whereupon the Prophet got
very angry, and it was revealed: 'We have created the heavens and the earth and
what is between them in six days, and fatigue did not touch Us. Thus be patient
with what you say.'"
This tradition not only states that the days of creation were literal, but
that the heavens and the constellations were created after the earth!
This is a major scientific problem!
"According to al-Qasim b. Bishr b. Mar'ruf and al-Husayn b. 'Ali al-Suda'i-
Hajjaj- Ibn Jurayj- Isma'il b. Umayyah- Ayyub b. Khalid- 'Abdallah b. Rafi', the
mawla of Umm Salamah- Abu Hurayrah: The Messenger of God took me
by the hand. Then he said: God created the soil on Saturday. Upon it, He created
the mountains on Sunday. He created the trees on Monday. He created evil on
Tuesday. He created light on Wednesday. He scattered the animals on the earth on
Thursday and He created Adam as the last of His creatures after (the time of)
the afternoon prayer in the last hour of Friday, in the time between the
afternoon prayer and night(fall)."
"According to Muhammad b. 'Abdallah b. Bazi'- al-Fudayl b. Sulayman- Muhammad
b. Zayd- Abu Salamah b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf- Ibn Salam and Abu Hurayrah who
mentioned the hour (of Adam's creation) on Friday on the authority of the
Prophet as he stated it. 'Abdallah b. Salam said: I know which hour it is. God
began the creation of the havens and the earth on Sunday, and He finished in the
last hour of Friday. Thus it is the last hour of Friday (in which Adam was
created)."
"According to al-Muthanna- al-Hajjaj- Hammad- 'Ata' b. al-Sa'ib- 'Ikrimah:
The Jews asked the Prophet: What about Sunday? The Messenger of God replied: On
it, God created the earth and spread it out. They asked about Monday, and he
replied: On it, He created Adam. They asked about Tuesday, and he replied: On
it, He created the mountains, water, and so on. They asked about Wednesday, and
he replied: Food. They asked about Thursday, and he replied: He created the
heavens. They asked about Friday, and he replied: God created night and
day. Then, when they asked about Saturday and mentioned God's rest (ing on
it), he exclaimed: God be praised! God then revealed: 'We have created the
heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days, and fatigue did not
touch Us.'"
Al-Tabari then comments:
"The two reports transmitted by us from the Messenger of God have made it
clear that the sun and the moon were created after God had created many
things of His creation. That is because the hadith of Ibn Abbas on the
authority of the Messenger of God indicates that God created the sun and the
moon on Friday. If this is so, earth and heaven and what was in them, except the
angles and Adam, had been created before God created the sun and the moon. All
this (thus) existed while there was no light and no day, since night and day are
but nouns designating hours known through the traversal by the sun and the moon
of the course of the sphere. Now, if it is correct that the earth and the heaven
and the what was between them, except what we have mentioned, were in existence
when there was no sun and no moon, the conclusion is that all existed when there
was no night or day. The same (conclusion results from) the following
hadith of Abu Hurayrah reported on the authority of the Messenger of
God: God created light on Wednesday- meaning by 'light' the sun, if God wills.
"Someone might ask: You have assumed that 'day' is just a noun designating a
period of time (miqat) between the rising of dawn and the setting of the
sun, and now, you assume that God created the sun and the moon days after He
began creating the things He did. Thus, you established periods of time and
called them 'days' while there was no sun and no moon. If you have no proof for
the soundness of this, it is a contradictory statement.
The answer is: God called what I have mentioned 'days'. Thus, I have used for
them the same designation He did. The use of 'days' when there was no sun and no
moon may be compared to (the use of 'morning' and 'evening' in) God's word:
'They have their sustenance in (Paradise) in the morning and in the evening'-
(using 'morning' and 'evening' in spite of the fact that) there is no morning or
evening there, because there is no night in the other world and no sun and no
moon, as God says: 'Those who do not believe are in doubt about it, until the
Hour comes upon them suddenly, or the punishment of a barren comes upon them.'
God called the Day of resurrection a 'barren day', because it is a day with no
night after its coming. Speaking of the 'days' before the creation of the sun
and the moon was intended to refer to a period of a thousand of the years of
this world, each of which has twelve months of the people of this world. Their
hours and days are counted by the traversal by the sun and the moon of the
course of the spheres. Likewise, 'morning' and 'evening' in connection with
the sustenance provided for the inhabitants of Paradise were used for a period
of duration with which they were familiar in this connection as 'time' in this
sphere, although, for the inhabitants of Paradise, there is no sun and no night.
"According to al-Qasim- al-Husayn- Hajjaj- Ibn Jurayj- Mujahid: God entrusts
the management of everything to the angels for a thousand years, and then again
until another thousand years have elapsed, repeating the process forever. He
said: '(In) a day whose measure is a thousand years.' 'Day' is His saying to
what he entrusts to the angels for a thousand years: 'Be! And it is.' But He
called it 'day', calling it as He pleased. All this on the authority of Mujahid.
He continued. God's word: 'A day with your Lord is like a thousand years of your
counting', is entirely the same thing.
"Reports similar to the one that has come down on the Prophet's authority,
that God created the sun and the moon after His creation of the heavens and the
earth and other things, have come down from a number of early (scholars) as
follows:
According to Abu Hisham al-Rifa'I- Ibn Yaman- Sufyan- Ibn Jurayj- Sulayman b.
Musa- Mujahid- Ibn Abbas, commenting on: 'And He said (the heaven) and
the earth: Come willingly or unwillingly! They said: We come willingly,' as
follows: God said to the heavens: Cause My sun and My moon to rise and cause My
stars to rise, and the earth He replied: Split your rivers and bring forth your
fruit. Both replied:
'We come willingly.'
"According to Bishr b. Mu'adh- Yazid- Sa'id- Qatadah, commenting on: 'And He
revealed in every heaven its command': He created in it its sun, its moon, and
its stars, and what is good for it."
After citing these traditions, Tabari concludes:
"These reports, mentioned to us on the authority of the Messenger of God
and those mentioned on his authority, have made it clear that God created the
heavens and the earth before He created time, day and night, the sun and the
moon. God knows best!" (bold emphasis ours)
Several comments are in order. First, unlike the fallible opinions of
Christian Scholars of the Holy Bible, these traditions are binding upon Muslims
since they are not the opinions of fallible men. Rather, they are the opinions
of Muhammad himself, as well as Islam's premiere commentator, Ibn Abbas. This
indicates that these are not merely fallible interpretations of the supposed
infallible revelation of the Quran, but are rather the supposedly infallible
commentary of the Prophet of Islam. Hence, whereas the opinions of Christian
exegetes are not binding since it is merely their fallible understanding of the
infallible Bible, these traditions stem from the mouth of Muhammad who knew the
meaning of the Quranic passages better than anyone else.
Secondly, these traditions place the creation of the sun after plant and
animal life. Taking into consideration that some Muslims viewed the days of
creation as lasting thousands of years, this implies that the sun was not
created until thousands of years after the creation of plant and animal life!
This is clearly a gross scientific error, one which no scientist would support.
Finally, Tabari also records the fact that Muhammad believed that Adam was
created over six thousand years before him. The following is taken from the same
work of Tabari cited above:
"According to Ibn Humayd- Yahya b. Wadih- Yahya b. Ya'qub- Hammad- Sa'id b.
Jubayr- Ibn Abbas: This world is one of the weeks of the other world-
seven thousand years. Six thousand two hundred years have already passed.
(The world) will surely experience hundreds of years, during which there will be
no believer in the oneness of God there. Others said that the total extent of
time is six thousand years. (pp. 172-173)
"According to Abu Hisham- Mu'awiyah b. Hisham- Sufyan- al-A'mash- Abu Salih-
Ka'b: This world is six thousand years." (Ibid.)
"According to Muhammad b. Sahl b. 'Askar- Isma'il b. 'Abd al-Karim- 'Abd
al-Samad b. Ma'qil I- Wahb: Five thousand six hundred years of this world
have elapsed. I do not know which kings and prophets lived in every period
(zaman) of those years. I aksed Wahb b. Munabbih: How long is (the total
duration of) this world? He replied: Six thousand years." (pp. 173-174)
In fact, according to Tabari Muhammad believe that the end of the world was
to occur 500 years after his coming:
"According to Hannad b. al-Sari and Abu Hisham al-Rifa'i- Abu Bakr b.
'Ayyash- Abu Hasin- Abu Salih- Abu Hurayrah: The Messenger of God said: When
I was sent (to transmit the divine message), I and the Hour were like these two,
pointing at his index and middle fingers." (p. 176, see also pp. 175-181)
Tabari comments on the meaning of the Hour being as close as Muhammad's index
and middle fingers:
"Thus, (the evidence permitting) a conclusion is as follows: The beginning
of the day is the rise of the dawn, and its end is the setting of the sun.
Further, the reported tradition on the authority of the Prophet is
sound. As we have mentioned earlier, he said after having prayed the
afternoon prayer: What remains of this world as compared to what has passed of
it is just like what remains of this day as compared to what has passed of it.
He also said: When I was sent, I and the Hour were like these two- holding index
finger and middle finger together; I preceded it to the same extent as this one-
meaning the middle finger- preceded that one- meaning the index finger. Further,
the extent (of time) between the mean time of the afternoon prayer- that is,
when the shadow of everything is twice its size, according to the best
assumption ( 'ala al-taharri)- (to sunset) is the extent of time of
one-half of one-seventh of the day, give or take a little. Likewise, the excess
of the length of the middle finger over the index finger is something about that
or close to it. There is also a sound tradition on the authority of the
Messenger of God, as I was told by Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Wahb- his
paternal uncle 'Abd-allah b. Wahb- Mu'awiyah b. Salih- 'Abd al-Rahman b. Jubayr
b. Nufayr- his father Jubayr b. Nufayr- the companion of the Prophet,
Abu Tha'labah al-Khushani: The Messenger of God said: Indeed, God will not
make this nation incapable of (lasting) half a day- referring to the day of a
thousand years.
"All these facts taken together make it clear that of the two statements I
have mentioned concerning the total extent of time, the one from Ibn Abbas, and
the other from Ka'b, the one more likely to be correct in accordance with the
information coming from the Messenger of God is that of Ibn 'Abbas transmitted
here by us on his authority: The world is one of the weeks of the other
world- seven thosand years.
"Consequently, because this is so and the report on the authority of the
Messenger of God is sound- namely, that he reported that what remained of
the time of this world during his lifetime was half a day, or five hundred
years, since five hundred years are half a day of the days, of which one is a
thousand years- the conclusion is that the time of this world that had elapsed
to the moment of the Prophet's statement corresponds to what we have transmitted
on the authority of Abu Tha'labah al-Khushani from the Prophet, and is 6,500
years or approximately 6,500 years. God knows best!" (pp. 182-183)
Hence, according to Muhammad not only is the world less than 7,000 years but
it was to end on the seventh day, or seven thousand years from the time it was
created.
Accordingly, the world should have ended sometime between 1070-1132 A.D.,
approximately 500 years after the birth and death of Muhammad. This is based on
the fact that according to Tabari and others, the advent of Muhammad took place
approximately 6,500 years from the time of creation. This is clearly a false
prophecy.
CONCLUSION
Contrary to the modern Muslim view, the Quran and the earliest Islamic
traditions do not teach that the earth is billions of years old. Furthermore,
Muhammad's interpretation of Quranic verses on the creation of the universe
leaves major scientific problems. His belief that the heavens and constellations
were only created after the earth would find little support from any reputable
scientist. Hence, Islam leaves us with more problems than solutions.
