Title: Regarding "Six or Eight Days of Creation?"... Question/Comments: In one of your articles you have already dealt with this issue, but after presenting your website to a critic he reviewed this particular article and was not convinced of your presented opinion. His criticism raised some doubts in my mind, so I would like you to analyze his arguments and clarify this issue. "... The page I read is about the controversy in the Quran that in one place says the creation took place in 6 days and in another place says it took place in 8 days. Sura 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, and 25:59 clearly say that God created "the heavens and the earth" in six days. But in Sura 41:9-12 we are given another number. Say: Is it that ye deny Him Who created the earth in TWO Days And do ye join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds. He set on the (earth), mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measure therein all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in FOUR Days in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek (Sustenance). Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly." They said: "We do come (together), in willing obedience." So He completed them as seven firmaments in TWO Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge. (Surah 41: 9 - 12) (Yusuf Ali) Here is how Mr. Amjad tried to solve this problem. Mr. Amjad tries to get out of this obvious contradiction by saying that 8 actually means 6. Here is his explanation. 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 totaled to six (6) days -- not eight (8) days. Here Mr. Amjad is trying to convince the reader that the first 2 days of the creation of the Earth is part of the 4 days when Allah set up the mountains and gave it sustenance. In this way he tries to get rid of the first 2 days and he is so impressed with his "discovery" that he claims to have fallen in prostration to thank his Lord. But this is just not so. Looks like Mr. Amjad thanked his Lord for nothing because his finding is based on denials and not facts. The Quran after saying that Allah created the Earth in 2 days says (verse 10): He set on it, mountains and bestowed blessings in 4 days. It is very clear, that the creation of the Earth precedes the providing sustenance and these are two different and consecutive events. He says that even a two-year-old child knows that 2 + 4 + 2 = 8 and therefore Muhammad could not have made such mistake. No one is saying that Muhammad did not know how to add these simple numbers. But he uttered the verses of the Quran during 23 years. That is enough time for a liar to forget what he said before. So at one time he said the creation took place in 6 days and a few years later he forgot and said it took 8 days. Liars have bad memories. And this is the explanation of this controversy. Now let us put aside the numbers and take a look at the absurdity of this claim. According to the above verses the Earth is created first, the mountains and sustenance are given next and it is only at last that the firmaments are created. This is enough for us to know that Muhammad knew nothing of what he was talking about. The Earth being a spec of dust in this universe is only 4.5 billion years old while the age of the universe is estimated to be 15 billion years. So the firmament predates the creation of the Earth at least by 10 billion years, and was not created after the Earth and after plantations appears on the Earth. Muhammad used to think that Earth is flat and above it is a dome like a bowl covering a plate. He thought that the Sun and the Moon are lamps that are attached to the dome of the sky. Of course when you build a room the roof and the lamps come at the end. That is why he puts the creation of the firmament at last and gives it only 2 days. Why concern ourselves with the numbers when we have such grotesque error in those verses?" Aziz Koksal Austria Answer: Unfortunately, I really do not know about the doubts that this writing may have created in your mind. The referred writing only entails a refusal, on the part of the writer, to accept the explanation of the referred verse that I have given in my referred article. Obviously, it is the prerogative of every individual to accept or to refuse to accept any explanation that I have provided. Had the writer pointed out the errors in my explanation, I would have been obliged to consider his observations and then to either accept them as strong - forcing me to reconsider my stance - or to present my rebuttal for his reasoning. Nevertheless, as things stand, the writer has only rejected my explanation. Under these circumstances, there is hardly anything I can do - or even would like to do - to convince him to accept my explanation. The only statement in the cited writing, which comes close to 'reason' is: It is very clear, that the creation of the Earth precedes the providing sustenance and these are two different and consecutive events. I agree with this statement, yet I do not see how it refutes my explanation. Suppose, one were to say: The structure of the whole house was raised in one month and the house was made fit for living in six months. It is clear that 'raising the structure' of the house precedes its being 'made fit for living' and that these can be termed as two 'different' and, in a way, 'consecutive' events, yet it does not necessarily mean that the total time taken in making the house fit for living was seven months. I do acknowledge that this statement can indeed be construed to mean that the total time taken in making the house fit for living was seven months. Nevertheless, if the writer of this statement has also stated at another place that the completion of the house took six months, then it would only be appropriate to interpret the cited statement to imply that the stated time taken in making the house fit for living includes the one month taken to raise its structure. The writer says: According to the above verses the Earth is created first, the mountains and sustenance are given next and it is only at last that the firmaments are created. This statement is only based on an incorrect interpretation of the Arabic word 'Thumma' , used in this verse. I have already given my response to this point in one of my earlier articles titled " The Meaning of ' Thumma & ' Yawm ' ". I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad January 30, 2003