Part 11

has been accep ted by a group of our sc ho lars, wh ich states that

thi s Ea rth is made from dust and what is below it cons ists of

iron, and the other is from sulphur stone and the other from

such -and-slic h. Blit al l of th is, if it has not been aut hen ti ca ll y

reported with a chain of narrators reaching to the Proph et ~

is rejected. Likewise, regarding the trad iti on narrated on the

authority of Ib n ' Abbas ~ wh ich states that he said, " In eve ry

Earth of til e creation there is something similar to what is in thi s

Olle, even an Adam, like your Ada m and an Ibraheem, like your

Ibraheem," it was reported in a summari sed form by Ibn Jarce r

and it was ex amined by Al-Bai haqi in Kitab AI-AsII/a 'i Was-

SifOl. Ifit is aut hent ic, it mll st be understood that Ibn 'Abbas ~

took it from the Isra 'eeliyyal - and Allah knows better.

Geographers ha ve mentioned the number of mountains in the

Earth in a ll of the ir locations, cast and wes t and they mentioned

the ir length, how far they stretch and their height and they have

spoken at great length on these matters, and it wo uld not be

fill ing 10 expla in a ll that they ha ve sa id on the subject here.

A ll ah, Most High , says, ( And among the mountains arejlldad,

white and red. of\-arying colors and (others) gharabeeb, black

Ibn ' Abbas and ot hers said that the Arabic wo rd j lldad mea ns

pathways and ' Ikrimah and others sa id th at gl/arabeeb means

tall , black mounta ins, Thi s is the case of the mounta ins allover

the Earth. They diffe r in th e ir locat ions and th eir co lors.

Allah has ment ion ed A I-Jood i by name in Hi s Book; it is a

great mou ntain w hic h lies to the cast of Jazeerah Ibn 'U mar, by

the s ide of til e River Tigris, near AI-Mawsi!. It stretches from

Whal Has Been Said Regarcilllg Ih(' Cr(!mion of 59

the south to the nort h, for a di stance o f th ree days' j ourney. Its

sUlllm it is half a day's journey and it is green in co lor, because

it is cove red in oak trees. To th e side of it is a town knowll as

At h-Th amaneen, whi ch was the home of those who survived

the flood in the ship with Noo h ~, acco rding to wha t has been

relat ed by more than one sc ho lar of tafseer - and A ll ah knows

Allah also mentions Mount Sina i and A I-Hafi z Ibn 'Asakir

narrated on the authori ty of Ka 'b A I-A hbar that he said: "On

the Day of Resurrecti on, fo ur mountain s - and they arc AI-

Kha leel Mou ntain , Leba non, At-Toor (Mount Sin ai) and A I-

Joocli - each of the m w ill become a white pearl that shine

between the heaven and the Earth and they will return to Bait

AI -M aqd is (Jerusa lem), so that its corners wi ll be illuminat ed

and Hi s Kllrsi will be placed on it and th ere He wi ll judge

between the peop le of Paradi se and the people of the Fire.

( And you will see the angels su rrounding the T hrone from all

arou nd . glorifyi ng th e praises o f their Lord . And they wi ll be

judged wit h trut h. And it will be sa id, "A ll praise and thank s be

to Allah, the Lord of the world s." ) (Soorah Az-Zumar 39:75)

Section Regal'{ling tlte Seas and tlte Rillers

All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( And l ie it is Who subjected the sea

(to you), that you may eat from the fresh tender meat , and th at

you brin g fo rth oul of it om aments to wear. And yo u see the

ships plowi ng through it , th at you m.ly seek from His bounty

and that you Illay perhaps be gratc ful. And He has driven fi nn

standing mountains into the Earth, lest it should shake with

you: and riYers and roads. that you lllay guide yourselves. And

GO II Ital 11m 8e('11 Said Regardill,~ lite Cr"ofioll 0/

(by th e) landm ark s: a nd by the stars. they g uide themse lves,

Is th en li e Who creat es the same as o ne who c refltes. not Will

YOll no t then re fl ect. And if yoll would try to COlillt the favors of

A ll ah, you woul d neve r be able to CO lilltlh el11 . Trul y, Allah is

Fo rgiving, Most Merc iful ) (Soomlllin-Nahl 16: 14-1 8)

He, Most High, says, ( And the \wo seas (kinds of wat er) are

no t alike: this is pal alable. swee t and pl easa nt to drin k, anclthat

is salty and bitter. A nd from th em bo th you cat fres h tender

m e~1t (fi sh). and deri ve the o rnam cllIs that YOll wear. And you

sec the shi ps cl eavin g, that YOll may seek of I lis bounty, and

th at you may g i\'e tha nks.) (SoO/'all Farir 35: 12)

He, Most High, says, ( See yo u not that the ships sail through

the sea by A lla h's Grace that li e ma y show YO ll of His Signs?

Ve rily. in thi s arc signs fo r every pati ent, g rat e ful (person ). And

whe n waves co ve r them lik e shades, they in vo kc A llah. making

th e ir in vocations for Ili m o nly. But when I-Ie brings them safe

to land. the re arc among them those that stop in between , And

Our Aytll arc not dl! ni ed except by eve ry perfid ious ingrate, )

(50oralt Lllql1l(lll 3 1:3 I ,32 )

He, Most High , says, ( Veril y, in the creati o n of the heave ns

and th e Ea rth , and in the alte rnati o n of ni ght and day. tlnd the

ships whic h sa il through the sea w ith that whi ch is of use to

Ilwllkinci, and th e wa ter ( rain ) whic h Allah send s down from

the sky and mak es th e Earth ali ve therewith after its death , tlllci

the moving (li ving) crea tures of all kinds that li e has scattered

there in , a nd in th e veerin g or winds and c louds w hi ch arc

held betwecn the sky und the Earth , arc indeed Ay at {proo f's.

evidences. s ig ns, etc.} for peopl c of understanding. ) ( 500mh

So All ah , Mos t Hig h, ha s blessed I-lis slaves w ith the things

What lIas Been Said Regarding

that He created for them, sll ch as th e seas and ri vers. The vast

seas which stretc h across the Eart h and that whi ch they produce

in al1 comers o r it is salty and biller and in thi s there is great

wisdom for th e hea lth of th e atmos ph ere, for if it were sweet ,

the atmosphere wou ld become ma lodorous and the ai r bad,

beca use of th e large creatures that d ie in th em and that would

lead to the extin cti on of mankind and the spo il ing o r th eir

environment. BtH (A ll ah's) far-reachi ng Wi sdom necessi tated

that it should be the way it is in order for thi s advantagc to

be attai ned. Thi s is why, whcn the Messenger of All ah :fi was

asked about the sea, he said , " Its water is pure and its dead

things arc lawful (to ca l)." Ol

As for the rivers, th eir wa ters arc swect and pcnn issible to

drink , for those who wish to do so. The fact that Allah has ca used

them to flo w fre ely, makin g them spring fort h in one land and

se ndin g them to other land s as Sllstenance for H is slaves. Some

of th em are large, whil e oth ers are small, accord ing to th e need

Scholars of geography havc spoken about the number of seas

and about the major ri vers, their sou rces, and where they end

in words contain ing wisdom s and proofs of the Omni potence

o f the Creator, Most Hi gh. It al so shows that He acts by Choice

and with Wi sdom . All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( And the sea

kindled by fire (o r kepi filled ) (SaO/·ail At-Taor 52:6). There

nrc two opi ni ons rega rding thi s; one states that it is the sea

which is und er th e Throne, mentio ned in the Iwdeefh of the

goats m and that it is above the seven heave ns. The distance

( I) This is an authentic hat/eelh. narrated on thc authority of Abu Hurairah

.;0 by Abu Dawood in the Book of Purificatioll (83). AITirmidhi (69). AII-

Nt/.w 'j (332). Ibll Ml/jall (386), Ahlllat/ (7 192). Malik (43) and At/·Darimi

(2) This I/(Idee,h has becn declared as weak by scholars or /mdee,,,. Sec Silsi-

62 WlllIll/as 8('ell Said Rega/'ding Ihe CreliliUlI (?l

between the lowest part o f il and Ihe hi ghest part o f it is lik e

the di stance between each heaven. II is from this that the ra in

will fa ll be fore the Sending Forth and from it the bod ies will be

restored to li fe from thei r gra ves. This is the pre fe rred opini on

of Ar-Rabee' Ibn Anas. Thc second opinion states that the

word bahr is a generic coll ecti ve noun , mcan ing a ll th e seas on

Eart h - and that is th e opinion of the maj ority.

Scholars d isagreed rega rding th e meani ng o f A/-Bohr ;/ 1-