Part 16

sc holars have reported that the re is a consensus among scholars

that the heaven s arc spheri cal and what lend s we ight to that is

I-li s Saying: ( They all noat, each in an orbi t ) (SoOl'all ),(, Seen

36:40) AI-J-/asan sa id, "They revo lvc." Ibn ' Abba s ..;:., said, " In

an orbit, li ke the turning o r a spinning mill." They said, Thi s is

provcn by the fac t that the sun sets every night and thcn it rises

at the end of it from the east, as Umayyah Ib n Abis-Sa lt said in

Tile SIIII rises at tile end of evelY nig ht,

Red alld rosy is tile place al whicll il rises.

r ~ According to the !wdeelll narrated by Al-Bukhari on the

~ ~ author ity of Abu Oharr ~: The Messenger of Allah ~ said

~ , :::. to Abu Dhan' ~ as the sun set, " Do you know where it (the

j sun) goes (at the tim c o f su nset)?" I replied, "Allah and I-li s

.+- Mcssenge r know belter." He said, " It goes (i. e. trave ls) till it

l; prost rates ilselfun dern eath the Th rone and takes the pellll ission

i ~ to risc again, and it is penll itted and then (a time will come

';! when) it will be about to prostrate itselfbu t its prostrati on wi ll

~ ~ not be accepted, and it will ask perm ission to go on its course

~ ~ but it will not be permitted, but it will be ordered to re turn

r;) whence it has come and so it will rise in the West. And that

.>-' is the interpretation of Ihe Statement of All ah: ( And the sun

runs its fi xed co urse fo r a tcrm (dec reed). Thm is th e Dec ree

o f (A ll ah) the Allmght y. the All -Knowi ng ) (SoO/'all Ya Seen

36:38)" -(he..- Sun w, \ \ ;:, ,,,,- J p.~

( I) Narrated by AI-Bll khari in the Book of T{/\\'heed (75 17) and Mll slim

WIIlII PerlaillS 10 Ihe ('realioll oIlhe Hem'ells lIlId 81

When thi s is known , the n it (w ill be reali zed that) thi s is a

hadeeth which does not co ntradict wha t we have mentioned

rega rdin g the rota ti on of th e heavenl y bodies, accord ing to the

most well-known Iwo opi nions. There is not ev idcnce o f the

sph erical shape of the Throne, as some ha ve claimed. we have

al ready prove n the fa lse ness of their op inion. Nor does it prove

tha t it (the sun) asce nd s to a pl ace above the heave ns fro m our

direction until it prostrates be neath the Th ro ne. Rather, it sets

out of our sight and co ntinu es in it s coursc. There is nothing in

the revealcd Sc ripture to in va lidate it, rather tha t whi ch proves

it and requ ires it is in percept ion , like ec lipses. Thi s is because,

if it fo ll ows its course un til it reaches the midd le of il - so Ihat it

is the lime oflile middle o f the night, for exa mpl e - th en it wil l

be at it s fllrthesl point from the Th rone and likew ise, it will be at

its closest poi nt a t the time of settin g from ou r di rec tion .When

it is in the place of its prostra ti on, it seeks permi ss ion from the

Lord as it ri ses from the East and perm ission is granted to it and

it appears from th e direct ion of th e East.

And when it is th e time whi ch Allah wi ll s for its se ttin g from

the dirccti on o f" the West, it prostrates according to it s custom

and seeks permission to rise, according to its c ustom, but it will

not be permitted 10 do so and so it prostrates aga in, then asks

perm iss ion, but is denied, then it prostra tes a third time, but

it is denied and this goes on throughou t th e ni ght , as we have

sa id in th e Tafs·eel". Then it will say, "0 Lord! Th e dawn is ni gh

and th e distance is far. " Then it will be said to it, " Return frol11

whe nce you came." And so it wi ll ri se from th e West. Th en,

when the peopl e sec it, they wi ll all beli eve and that is (th e

mean ing of) the Words of Allah, Mos t Hi gh: ( Whe n no soul

which had not bel ieved previous ly or ea rned good though its

belief will benefit thereby a nd the sun rllns its fi xed course for

a term (decreed). ) (5001"011 }'O Seel1 36:38).

82 II hof Pertaills (0 file Cremiull o/fhe HeOl'ellS (/m/

It was sa id tha t this mca ns unti l the time at whi ch it has been

commanded to rise from the West. It was also said th<l! the

word IIIl1staqarrmc<l ns thc place in whi ch it prost rates benea th

the Th rone, And it was also said that it mea ns the end of its

course, whi ch is the cnd o f the wo rl d, And it was reported on

the atllhority of' Abdull ah Ibn ' Abbas .t<, that he rec ited, ( And

the sun runs withou t II 111l1.\'taqarl' for it ) , That is, it does no t

stop; based on this rec iwlio n, it wou ld mean that it pros tratcs

wh ile moving in its course, Th is is why Allah, Most Hi gh, says,

( It is not for the sun to ovcrtake the moon. nor does th e night

outstrip the day. They all fl oat, each in an orb it. ) (Sool'(ll1 Ya

Seen 36:40) That is. the sun cannot overtake th e moon and rise

in its domain ; ne ither can the 11100n overtake the su n and ri se in

its do mai n. Lik ewise, Ihe night cannot precede the day, Rather,

when the clay has gone, the nigh t comes after it, foll owing on

its hee ls, as th e Messenger of Alla h :fiI: sa id , " When th e ni ght

approaches frolll here and the day departs fro m here and the sun

sets, the fa sting pe rson should break hi s fast " ( I) It is accep ted

th at ti me is divi ded into night and day and there is nothing

betwee n the m. Thi s is why A ll ah, Most High, says, ( A ll ah

me rges the ni ght into the day (i.e. the dec rease ill th e hours

o f the ni ght <I re adJed in the hours of the d,IY), a nd merges

the day into the ni ght (i ,e, the decrease in the hours of day arc

addcd in the hours of night), a nd ha s subjec ted th e sun and the

moon , eac h rUllning its cou rse for a tenn appoint cd, ) (500m"

That is. He merges thi s into that ; He takes from the length o f

thi s and adds to the shortness o f that and they become equa l,

j ust as at the start of the spring seaso n, th e ni ghts be fore that

(t) Namllcd on the 3U1horily or 'Umar Ibn Al-Khattab ~ by A I-tlukhari

(1954), Muslim (1100). Abu D[lwQod (2351), AI-Tirmidhi (698), Ahmad

(193) lind AdDarim i (1700).

are lon g and the days shO[1. But the nights continue to shorten

and the days to lengthen, until they are equa l - and that is

at the beg innin g of spring. Then the days begin to lengthen

and the nights get shorter, until they also become equa l at the

beginn in g of the autumll . Then the night s begin to lengthen

and the days to shorten , until the end of the autum n. Then the

days begin to lengthen slowly and the nights begin to shorten

slowly, until they become equal at the start of the sprin g, as

we said prev ious ly. That is what happens every year. This is

why All ah says, ( Hi s is the alternation of ni ght and day. Will

yo u not th en understand? ) (SoO/'all A/-Mu 'minOOI1 23 :80) That

is, the d isposal of all that is in Hi s Hands; the Judge, Who is

not contrad icted and is not opposed. And this is why He says

in three Verses, when speaking of the heavens, the stars, the

night and the day, ( Such is the meas uri ng of the Almigh ty, the

All -Know in g ) (Saara" AI-An '01/1 6:96) That is, the Almi ghty,

Who has subjugated all things and to Whom all things have

submitted and so He is not opposed and He cannot be overcome.

He is the Knower of a II things and He has appointed a measure

for everything, according to a nile which does not change and

So the bodies that are in the sky include tho se that constantly

move and they are known as lI1utahayyirah (1) by the scholars

of tasyeer; (2) and most of thi s knowledge is correct, unlike the

"science" of (astro logical) rulings, most of whi ch is false and

without any evidence to support its claims. These are seven

in number and they arc: the moon, which is in the lowest

heaven, 'Ularid (Mercury), which is in th e second, Az-Zllhrah

(\) MUlaha):.I'imh:Wandering stars; Ihey were known as such because they

seemed to stray irregularly across the sky. At times they arc seen moving

from East 10 West, and at others, from West to East.

(2) Tasyeer: The science of calculating the movements of heavenly bodies.

84 11'11(11 Pertaills /0 Ihe Crealion ofllie IIC(/I'<!m (lml

(VCIlU S), which is in the third, th c sun , whi ch is in the fourt h,

AI-Mirreekll (Ma rs), which is in thc fifth , AI-MlIslltari (J upi tcr)

and Zullol (Sa turn) in the sevc nth. T he othcr pl ancts are known