( إِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ اللَّهُ) (Indeed, your Lord is Allah): There is a difference between (Lord) and (God). (Lord) is for the Giver, the Provider of blessings, while (God) is the One Who issues the commandments of worship and ordinances, as in do this and do not do that, this is lawful and this is unlawful. It is Allah (swt), our Lord Who bestows His Grace (swt) upon us, creates humans, and orders them to worship Him (swt).

( الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ) (who created the heavens and earth): Allah (swt) presents the place where mankind live; that is in the heavens and on earth. It is our Lord, Allah (swt), Who created them, meaning Allah (swt) made them exist out of nothing, turned them into something unprecedented. People might say, that they too could create a wallet or a table but these things did not exist out of nothing; for wood and glass had already existed and when these materials were put together, they turned into a table, or wallet. This is not (creation), it is called (production), and there is a difference between the two concepts. (Creation) means to form something without any prior example on which to base it; in other words, there is no preconception in the mind of what this thing will turn into. Such as manufacturing a cup, and then continuing to manufacture other cups accordingly. Creating something unprecedented can only be done by Allah (swt) and this is why it is called (creation), such as the creation of the heavens and the earth.

( السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ) (the heavens and earth): (Heavens) is mentioned in plural form while (earth) is in singular form. One of the meanings of the word (heaven) in the Arabic language is what comes above something and shadows what is below it, and it also means (sky). Some people believe that the sky is the Earth’s atmosphere, or that it encompasses the planets, the stars, the sun, and the moon. In fact, the sky, or heaven, is a tremendous space that was created in six days, as Allah (swt) informs us. Allah (swt) creates by commanding something to (be), He (swt) does not need a process to create something. But how come it says here:  (who created the heavens and earth in six days)? Had He willed, Allah (swt) could create heavens and earth with just a word (be), but He (swt) wants all matters of the worldly life to depend on reasons and causes, this is why six days were dedicated for the creation of heavens and earth. If Allah (swt) wanted them to exist with (be) then they would have come to existence by a mere command because Allah (swt) is in no need for time. When it says (created), then Allah (swt) creates and leaves the matter for causes, so that the worldly life becomes a life that depends on causes.

(فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ) (in six days): What is a day, exactly? For us, a day is from sunrise to sunrise, or from sunset to sunset. But the sun was not there yet when Allah (swt) created the heavens, so how can a (day) mentioned in the verse be defined? Allah (swt) says:

 وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ الْقُرَى الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا قُرًى ظَاهِرَةً وَقَدَّرْنَا فِيهَا السَّيْرَ ۖ سِيرُوا فِيهَا لَيَالِيَ وَأَيَّامًا آمِنِينَ

(And We placed between them and the cities which We had blessed [many] visible cities. And We determined between them the [distances of] journey, [saying], “Travel between them by night or day in safety.”) (Saba: 18)

A day in this verse is not the duration of 24 hours, it is rather the time between sunrise and sunset. Allah (swt) also says:

 وَيَسْتَعْجِلُونَكَ بِالْعَذَابِ وَلَن يُخْلِفَ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ ۚ وَإِنَّ يَوْمًا عِندَ رَبِّكَ كَأَلْفِ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَ

(And they urge you to hasten the punishment. But Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count.) (Al-Haj: 47)

And in another verse:

} تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ{

(The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.) (Al-Ma’aarij: 4)

The day in the Holy Quran is a time measure but we are not certain what it exactly means because according to our knowledge time depends on the sun, but the six days mentioned in the verse are a time period that we cannot define. Allah (swt) does not want us to know the exact duration of that time, so it is sufficient to say that it took a period of time for things to react with one another. Modern theories tell us that there has been a universal explosion to which Allah (swt) refers in the following verse:

أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا ۖ وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاءِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ ۖ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

(Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?) (Al-Anbiyaa: 30)

So in the verse of the study, Allah (swt) says that He (swt) created heavens and earth in six days. In other verses He (swt) says:

  قُلْ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَتَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ أَندَادًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ (9) وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ مِن فَوْقِهَا وَبَارَكَ فِيهَا وَقَدَّرَ فِيهَا أَقْوَاتَهَا فِي أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ سَوَاءً لِّلسَّائِلِينَ (10) ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ائْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ (11) فَقَضَاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَأَوْحَىٰ فِي كُلِّ سَمَاءٍ أَمْرَهَا ۚ وَزَيَّنَّا السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَحِفْظًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ (12)

((9) Say, “Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds.” (10) And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures’] sustenance in four days without distinction – for [the information] of those who ask. (11) Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, “Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion.” They said, “We have come willingly.” (12) And He completed them as seven heavens within two days and inspired in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and as protection. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.) (Fussilat)

Here, it says eight days. The apparent implication of these detailed verses is that eight days were involved, while the verses which mentions the matter generally say that it was six days. To clarify this point, the Holy Quran, says: (Say, “Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days), then it continues with: (And He placed on the earth firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures’] sustenance in four days). So the four days include both days on which sustenance were determined, as well as the two days when earth was created, which makes it four days. As for the heavens, they were created in two days, thus making it a total of six days by Allah’s will, and we cannot measure it with our own knowledge.

( ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ) (and then established Himself above the Throne): A throne is the seat of a monarch. (Established Himself): Means that all is now stabilized, that the creation of heavens and earth is complete. Imam Malek (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about the meaning of being established above the throne, he answered: “That there is an establishment is known, but how it is done is unknown, it is an obligation to believe in it, and to question it is a condemnable innovation”, it means that asking about how the establishment on the throne happened is a condemnable innovation because the Prophet (saws) was not asked about it during his life. Although Allah (swt) has already clarified this matter, for in the Holy Quran we find verses like:

 يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ

(The hand of Allah is over their hands) (Al-Fath: 10)

And:

 فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا

(you are in Our eyes) (At-Tur: 48)

Saying that Allah (swt) has a hand is a kind of assimilation, which is to engage in the suspicion of anthropomorphism and saying  that He (swt) has no hand is divesting Allah (swt) of an attribution. The same is said about this verse: (and then established Himself above the Throne). On the one hand, saying that establishment is the stabilization of sovereignty and that the throne is a kind of seat for the monarch would be anthropomorphism. On the other hand, saying that this verse means power, ability and stabilization of the matter is considered a kind of divestment. The Holy Quran easily simplifies this whole matter for us so as not to fall into anthropomorphism nor divestment, we also dismiss both these suspicions from Alla’s Attributes by saying that Allah (swt) is All-Knowing, but His Knowledge (swt) is not like ours, and He (swt) is Living, yet:

( لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ )

(There is nothing like unto Him) (Ash-Shura: 11)

These are known as unspecific verses that only Allah (swt) knows its exact interpretation. The scholars said: “We believe that there is nothing similar to Allah (swt). Thus, every time we come across a verse about the establishment above the throne, or about the hand, the eye, or any of Allah’s (swt) Attributes, we say: (There is nothing like unto Him), as we are told in the Holy Quran”. Anything that comes to our mind about Allah (swt), then He (swt) is nothing like it, for example, as long as the images of establishment and that of a throne have crossed our mind, then it is indeed different from what actually are.

( يُغْشِي اللَّيْلَ النَّهَارَ يَطْلُبُهُ حَثِيثًا ) (He covers the night with the day, [another night] chasing it rapidly): They are alternating between one another, the night enters the day and vice versa. (He covers the night with the day, [another night] chasing it rapidly): This mean for sure that the earth is round because night and day cannot alternate unless the earth is round.

( وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُومَ مُسَخَّرَاتٍ بِأَمْرِهِ ) (and [He created] the sun, the moon, and the stars, subjected by His command): The universal subjugation is one of Allah’s bestowments upon mankind.

( أَلَا لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالْأَمْرُ) (Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command): There is a Legislative command and a cosmological command. No one can go against the cosmological command, as for the Legislative command, the person is free either obey or disobey. The cosmological command in this verse is inevitable, such as the alternation of the night and day, the sun and the moon, … etc. They are all subjected to cosmological command that no one can stop. No one for example can order the sun at any given point not to rise.

( تَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ ) (blessed is Allah): Be He (swt) Sacred and Exalted.

( رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ ) (Lord of the worlds): The Provider and Giver of blessings (swt) to all mankind.