Part 8

(2) [n his ~xp lan a ti o n of SOOI'(/" AI-I I(lqq(l" (41-11 5). Ibn Kathccr atlributcd

th is nilrr.Jlion to tbn Abi ft atim and he said, "A nd thi s chain of narralors

(3) This narration is aulhcnlic. though I1W,IY/ooJ (i.e. il can onl y be t rac~d

back 10 Ibl1 . Abbas .~ . 110110 the Prophet l6). [I was narrated by AIHakim

ill A[· Musladrak (2/3 to. No, 3116),

A Descriprion oIrhe Crearion of fh e Thron e. rhe 45

the Messenger of A ll a h :ls: said, " In res pect to the KlIl'si , the

heavens and th e Ea rth are no mo re than seven dirhallls throw n

Abu Dharr ~ sa id: I heard the Messenger of All ah ~ saying,

"The KursZ):)I in relation to the Throne is no more than a ring of

iron thrown into an ope n dese rt on Earth." ( 2)

Section: Regarding Wh at Has Been Said

Concerning A I-La wh A I-M ahfooz

It is reported on the authority of ' Abdulla h Ibn ' Abba s ...;.., that

the Prophe t ::t;: sa id, "Veril y, Allah created a Prcse rved Table t

from a whi te pea rl ; its pages are made from a red ru by and its

Pcn is light and it s reco rd is light. In each day, A ll ah has three

hundred and sixty moment s in whi ch He c rea tes, sustains,

cau ses death and g ives life, honors and humb les and does as

He wi ll s." (3)

Ishaq Ibn Bishr repo rted on the authori ty of Ibn 'A bbas 4>

tha t he said: Ve rily, at th e beg inning of AI-LUII'll AI-Mal!fooz, it

is writt en: 'N oll e ha s the right to be worshipped exce pt All ah ,

Alone. Hi s Religion is Islam and Muhammad is I-li s sla ve and

Hi s Me ssenger. and so whoever has faith in A llah. be lieves in

( I) This is an authentic lIadeerh Il<trratcd by Ibn Jarec:r At-Tabari in his Taf

(2 ) This hadeerll is raised to the level or salweh (allthemic) by ,,11 of the

sources from which it was reponed: it was narrated by tbll Jarccr At-

Tabari in his TlIf~el!r (3 / 10). Sec al so Silsilall AI-Alwdeellt As·Sallee/wlt

by Shaikh Muhammad Nasimddeen AI-Albani - may Allah have mercy

on him - ( 109).

(3) This is a weak Iwr/eelh narrated by At-Tabarani in AI-Kaheer( IO/260. no.

__~k'~~~ A Dcscriplio/l oflhe Cremioll of II/(· TllIYme, Ihe

Hi s Prom ise and obeys His Messengers, He will adm it him to

Parad ise. He (Ibn ' Abbas ~) said, "A nd A I-LOIvll AI-Mal!fooz

is a tab let made From wh ite pearl; its length is equiva len t to

the distance betwecn the heaven and the Earth, its breadth is

equiva len t to the di stance bctwee n the East an d the West and

its edgcs are pearl and ruby. its two sides are red ruby, its Pcn

is light , its words are hung upon the Throne and its base is in

the lap of an ange l.·' (1 )

Allas Ibn Mal ik Jjt, and others from among the Sola/said, "Al-

LalVII AI-Mall/ooz is on the fore head of Israfcel. ( 2) lI

( I) This is a 1J/(IIl'qoojnarralion and it is a base less fabrication. In its eha in of

narrators is one Ishaq Ibn Oishr. who was known to bc a liar and a fabrica-

(2) T)lis is a weak hadeelll narrated by Ibn Jareer in his TlIfi;eer (301140).

11r,' (;"'(t/i('I( 'lllrt' fir(Ii'elf.; ((If'; ti" I:~frllr

A llah, Most Hi gh, says, ( All praise be to A ll ah . Who created

th e heave ns and the Earth . and ori gi nated the d .. rkncss and th e

li ght. ye t those who di sbel ieve ho ld o thers as equa l with th eir

l ord ' (Soora" AI-All 'am 6: I)

He. the Most Hig h, says, Ind eed, your Lord is A llah. Who

cre'Heei the heavc l1s<1 nd th e Earth in six days ) (SoorahAI·A 'raj

7:54). Thi s is repeated in number of ve rses in the Qur'a n.

Scholars o f taj\'eer holcl lwo difTercnt opi ni ons rega rdi ng the

measure of these six days: The majority holds that they arc like

o m (En rthl y) days. It is re pon ed 011 the authority of Ibn ' Abbas

~ , Mujah id , Ad-Dahhak and Ka 'b AI-Ahba r that: "Every clay

of them is equi va lent to a th ousa nd yea rs of yo ur reck onin g."

48 wiJw I/m /Jeen Said NegmT/ing Jhe Cr(!aJi(JII oj

This was narra ted by Ibn Jareer and Ibn Abi Hatim and it was

the preferred view of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in the book in whi ch

he refuted the argum ents of the Ja/lIl1iyyah. It was a lso the

pre ferred view o f Ibn ./a reer and a number of the later schola rs

- and A ll ah knows better. Later, we sha ll present evidence to

suppon thi s opi nion. Ibn Jareer narrated , on the authority of Ad-

Dahhak Ibn Muzahi m and others, that the names of the six days

are: "Abjad, I-Iall'lI'az. I-Iutli, Ka/ell/lIlI, Sa/as and Qarashl."

Ibn Jareer al so repon ed three sayings relati ng to the first days.

He narrated, on the auth ority of Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, that

he sa id, "Th e followe rs of th e Torah say that A ll ah began the

creat ion on Sunday, whil e the follow ers o f the Il1jeel say th at

Allah began th e creation on Satu rday, w hil e we Mus li ms,

accord ing to what has come to us frolll the Messen ger of Alla h

~, hold that A ll ah began the creat ion 0 11 Saturday." And this

say ing which is reported by Ibn Ishaq from the Muslim s was

fa vored by a number of Shqfi 'j sc holars of Islami c Juri sprudence

and others. It was re ported in a J/{Ideelll on the authority of Abu

Huraira h ~ th at th~ Messenge r of Al lah ~ said: "All ah crea led

the soil (or c lay) on Sahmiay." (I)

A ll ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( He it is Who created fo r you all

that is on Eart h. Th en He is/ flJl'tl (rose over) toward the heave n

and made them seve n hea vens and He is the All-Knowing )

He, Most High, says, ( Say (0 Muhammad): " Do yo u ve rily

di sbelieve in I lim Who crealed the Ea rth in two days and you

ScI lip rivals (in worship) w ith 1lim '!" That is the Lord of the

'AlameclI (mankind.jinn and all thai ex ists). l ie placed the rein

(i.c. the Earth) firm mountain s from above it. a nd He blessed

( I) Narrated by Abu Dawood in the Description of The Day of Judgment.

Paradise And I leI! (2789). by Ahmad (8 141) with simi lar wonling.

11'110/ 1/0.\ Been Said Regarding Ihe Crelltioll of 49

It. and meas ured th erein its Slistenance (for its dwellers) in fou r

days equal (i.e. a ll these four days were eq ual in the lengt h

o f time), for all th ose who ask (abo li t its creation) . The il He

; .'11(111'(1 (rose ove r) toward the heave n w hen it wa s smoke, and

sa id to it unci to the Earth : "Come bot h of you willingly or

un wi ll ingly." They bo th sa id: "We co me wil ling ly." The n He

compl eted and fini shed from the ir creati on (:Is) seven heavens

in two days and I-Ie made in each heave n il s affair. "And We

ado med the neares t (lowest) heaven with lamps (stars) to be an

adonlmcilt as we ll as 10 guard (from the dev ils by using th em

as missilc!-. against the devils), Such is th e Decree of I-lim the

All-Mighty, th e AIl-KnolVi ng" (Soorall FIIssil014 1:912) This

proves that the Earth was created before th e heavens, because it

is like a fo undati on for the stmcture, as A ll ah, Most Hi gh, says,

Allah, it is l ie Who ha s made for yo u the Earth as a dwelling

place and the sky as a ca no py. and has given you shape and

made your shapes good (looking) and has prmidcd you w ith

good things, That is Allah, your Lord, then blessed be Allah,

the Lord of the 'A/ameell (mankind. j inn and aHlh at exists) )

+- He, Most High, says, ( Il ave We not made the Ea rth as a bed?

And the mounta ins as pegs'! ) (SOO,.o17 AII-Nabo ' 78:6,7) - up

to His Words, ( And We have built above yo u seven strong

(heavens). A nd have made (t he rei n) a shinin g lamp (sun) )

(SoOl'oll AIINobo ' 78: 12, 13)

He, Most High, says , ( Il ave nOll hosc who di sbelieve known

that the heavens and thc Earth wcre joined together as one

unitl:d piece. then We parted them and We haw made from

water every liv ing thin g. Will th ey not then beli eve? ) (SoO/'oll

AI-Al1hiy o ' 2 1:30) - That is, "We pa rted the heaven and the

Eart h so that the winds blew, the rains rell and spri ngs and

50 II l1alllm' BeL'1I Said RegwtiillJ,! Iltt' OWll ion (~r

rive rs Ho wed and the animal s wc re re freshed," Then He says.

(A nd We have made the heavc n a roo f, safe and wc llguarded.

Ye t thcy tllrn away from its s igns (Soorall A I-Al1b~J'a' 2 1:32)

- T hat is, from what He has crea ted in the hea ve ns, suc h as

thc fi xed and the moving celest ia l bod ics, thc shini ng sta rs and

the illuminated heavenly bodies and the proofs of the Divi ne

Wisdom o f th e C reator of the heavens and the Eart h. as A llah

says, (A nd how ma ny a sign in th e heave ns and the Earth they