Six or
Eight Days of Creation?
A Response to a
Criticism on the Qur'an
Mr Katz, in one of his articles has
objected that in most of the places the Qur'an states that God created the heavens and the
earth in six days (for example: 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, and 25:59) while in 41: 9 - 12, a little
more detail of the number of days involved in this creation is given. In this verse, God
has separately mentioned the number of days it took to create the earth and the number it
took to create the heavens. Mr. Katz says that if we add up these numbers, they sum up to
eight, rather than six, which obviously is a contradiction in the statements of the
Qur'an.
In the article that follows, I shall try to briefly
present my point of view about the stated apparent contradiction in the Qur'an.
Let us begin by taking a look at the translation of
verses 41: 9 - 12. The Qur'an says:
-
Say: do
you indeed disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days? and do you make other gods
His equals? The Lord of the Universe is He. He set upon the earth mountains, towering high
above it. He blessed it and provided it with sustenance for all those in need alike, in
four days. Then, turning to the sky, which was but a cloud of vapour, He said to it and to
the earth: “Come forward both, willingly or perforce”. “We will come
willingly”, they answered. In two days, He formed the sky into seven heavens.
A quick look at the verse with particular reference
to the number of days involved in the creation, shows that:
- The creation of the earth took two (2) days;
- the setting up of mountains, seas etc., and the
provision of sustenance for living things on the earth took four (4) days; and - the making of the skies took two (2) days.
The accumulated number of days involved in the total
process of creation seems to be eight (8), as Mr. Katz has also stated. Obviously, there
would have been no contradiction, if the matter had ended here. But it did not. There are
a number of instances in the Qur'an where it clearly states that Allah created the heavens
and the earth in six days. This is where the problem begins!
Now, obviously, in view of this apparent
contradiction we are faced with a very simple question: Was the author of the Qur'an not
even a person of average (even far below average) intelligence? For if the Qur'an contains
errors, such as “six equals eight” (6 = 8), it would be very difficult to assume
that he (or He) possesses an intelligence above a two year old child (?). Moreover, we are
faced with another serious question: Why didn't the rejectors of the Prophet (pbuh) object
to such obvious errors in the book that was proving to be “the beginning of the
end” for them. Were they really as ignorant as that?
Questions such as these force us to have a second and
a closer look at the related verses of the Qur'an. For if the Qur'an really contains such
fundamental errors (or even just AN Error), it cannot and MUST NOT be ascribed to the
All-Knowing, All-Wise Creator and Lord of the universe.
We are thus forced to take a second, closer, look at
verses 41: 9 - 12. To understand these verses more accurately, let us take a look only at
the related portions of these verses. The Qur'an says:
-
… do
you indeed disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days? … And He set upon the
earth mountains, towering high above it. He blessed it and provided it with sustenance for
all those in need, alike, in four days. Then, … In two days, He formed the sky into
seven heavens.
I really do not know if any questions arise in the
minds of my readers, after looking at these verses again. But as soon as I looked at these
verses with the knowledge that the same book which is giving us the above information, has
also told us that the total time of creation is six days, I realized that these verses are
not giving the number of days involved in three creations, but only two.
It is not the earth,
the mountains (etc.) and the skies
that are under consideration, but only the earth and the skies. (The Reader is requested
to have a look at these verses again, and see it for himself/herself). The portion: “And He set upon the earth mountains, towering high above it.
He blessed it and provided it with sustenance for all those in need, alike, in four
days”, mentions only a continuation and finalisation of the process of the creation
of the earth.
The realization of this fact solved the problem
completely. The verses, as I saw them now, were quite clear. The Qur'an in these verses
was actually saying that the basic structure of the earth was created in two (2) days.
Later on, mountains, seas and other paraphernalia required for the sustenance of living
organisms on this basic structure of the earth were designed and created. And all this
work (including the creation of the earth and the designing and provision of the
paraphernalia) was completed in a total of four (4) days. After this, the skies were
modeled and seven heavens were created in two (2) days. Thus the total time involved in
the creation of the earth and the heavens totalled to six (6) days - not eight (8) days.
I do acknowledge that if the Qur'an had not mentioned at other places that the creation of
the heavens and the earth involved six (6) days, the total process could have been taken
to add upto eight (8) days. But keeping in mind that the Qur'an has mentioned elsewhere
that the total process involved six (6) days, there is nothing wrong, linguistically, to
say that the total period involved in designing and creating the earth (because the
mountains etc. are a part of that earth) took four (4) days. While that of the skies
involved two (2) days. Thus the total number of days in the designing and creation of the
earth and the skies involved six (6) days.
The verses now seemed quite clear in their message. I
thanked my Lord, and to show my gratitude fell down in prostration.
© Copyright December 1998. All Rights Reserved with the Author
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