According to quran how old is the universe

This places the age of Earth at one third the age of the universe 4. And your Lord, Allah, who created the Heavens and the Earth in six days and then settled on the Throne …. Those six days are on the Throne; so the frame of reference for creation is the Throne, not Earth.

And you claim others to be equal to Him? He is the Lord of all the Worlds. And we have created the Heavens and Earth and everything in between in six days and We were not touched by fatigue. All those days are on the Throne; the frame of reference for creation is the Throne.

When God says that He created the Heavens, Earth, and everything in between including you and me in six days this means that He is referring to the period of existence. Earth has been in existence for 2 days out of 6. Muslims believe that God sustains all living things. All His commands to the angels to sustain man and animals were inscribed on the Preserved Tablet. The Quran says that not even a leaf would drop on Earth without it being previously recorded on this Preserved Tablet.

God says that He inscribed this Preserved Tablet before the creation of Earth started; He answered our prayers today as commands for the angels on the Preserved Tablet during the first four days when Earth was still smoke. After this, He ordered Earth to form. And [Allah] estimated all its sustenance in four days, equally for those who ask prayers after this Thumma in Arabic [Allah] commanded the heaven and it was still smoke. So [Allah] judged them as seven heavens one above the other in two days and revealed to each heaven its orders.

And We [Allah] adorned the lowest heaven with lights, and protection. Such is the decree of the Exalted; the Knowledgeable. God answered our prayers today when Earth was still smoke the first four days. After this, Thumma in Arabic God ordered Earth to form. The formation of Earth took two days. It then expanded rapidly, and eventually stars, galaxies and planets formed. This expansion was the beginning of time and continues to this day.

The Big Bang theory is supported by evidence that space is expanding, including the redshift of light from distant galaxies and the existence of cosmic background radiation in all directions. It is thought the Earth was formed around 4.

As the Earth gradually cooled, creating conditions in which life was possible, living things appeared on the new planet Earth. Not all scientists agree with the Big Bang theory, but many of their objections are to do with the details within the process, not the underlying principle that it happened. Similarly, there are different hypotheses about how life began on Earth. These can be tested, but scientists cannot be sure which are correct because it happened long ago.

Islam is very clear about the belief that Allah was responsible for the creation of the universe. There is no single story of creation, but there are references to it in many places in the Qur'an. From these it is possible to build a picture:. Muslims regard the existence of the universe as proof for the existence of Allah, the Creator. They also believe that the Qur'an is a divine revelation from Allah and so cannot be questioned.

Question from Canada: there are some discrepancies the Quran has concerning the creation, and I would like an explanation, please. It is rather interesting to see how this scholar placed the fashioning of the heavens in between the creation of the earth and its sustenance even though Q. And for a more thorough refutation of the assertion that the seven heavens refers to the seven layers we recommend this rebuttal.

The word yawm , which has been translated as day can also mean period. If we understand yawm as period, there can be no contradiction because the same action can be measured in different periods of time. Here Allah is providing the details on the stages in the development of the earth and the rest of the universe. These verses demonstrate the design and wisdom in nature, and the bounties Allah has favoured us with.

Therefore, Allah has chosen to mention the periods separately in more detail. All that Mr. We have never denied that yawm can refer to an indefinite period of time in specific contexts, so this is essentially a straw man argument. What the author needs to do is provide evidence that this is what yawm means in these particular texts.

Since there is nothing within the Quran itself to suggest that yawm in these verses refers to an unspecified time period, Mr. Amjad and the author turn to the Muslim commentators to prove their case. Notice what the author goes on to say:. The first claim that this indicates a hour period as opposed to an eon or period, is based on the english[ sic ] translation of the days of the week.

But if one analyzes the arabic[ sic ] text of the hadith, one will notice that in arabic[ sic ] the names of the days should be literally translated as period one, period two, period three, etc. So this actually does not negate long periods. While we have mentioned that the exact length of the periods that they estimated was inaccurate[ sic ], this narration still proves that many companions regarded the 'days' of creation as referring [ sic ] to periods. These scholars were not basing their interpretation on their own understanding, but on the explicit testimony of the Quran which refers to the exact length of years a day can be.

Let us quote one of these texts in order to appreciate why these scholars believed that each of the days of creation measured a thousand years in length:. It is God Who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, in six Days , and is firmly established on the Throne of Authority : ye have none, besides Him, to protect or intercede for you : will ye not then receive admonition? He rules all affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will all affairs go up to Him, on a Day, the space whereof will be as a thousand years of your reckoning.

Here we find the creation days mentioned right alongside a passage that claims that a day equals a thousand years of our human reckoning. As we stated, there is nothing that conclusively shows that these creation days are anything more than literal twenty-four hour periods.

The only passage that may suggest that they are is this very specific text, even though the verses do speak of different subjects. At the very least these Muslim scholars saw a connection with Q. It is obvious why he does, since their position goes against modern scientific hypothesis regarding the age of the universe. To put it simply, these Muslims scholars believed that the cosmos was created in approximately six thousand human years as a result of the Quran expressly teaching that a day can measure a thousand years of our reckoning.

But since this view clearly contradicts modern scientific theories on the age of the universe the author must reject the position of his own Muslim scholars! The author has only one more text which he can turn to in order to prove that a day according to the Quran can be more than twenty-four hours:. To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years. The above text says that there is a day which measures fifty thousand years. Even though this has nothing to do with the days of creation, one can argue that this measure of time can be legitimately applied to the days of creation.

By multiplying six days by fifty thousand years we end up with three hundred thousand years:. Thus, interpreting the Quran in light of itself the most a Muslim can prove is that it took Allah , years to create the universe, a number that is unacceptable to modern science. The Quran quite clearly contradicts scientific theories on the age of the cosmos.

The third explanation does not say that the second period includes the first, but instead argues that the last period mentioned in of two days, occurs simultaneously in relation to the first two periods.

Therefore, the earth was created in two days simultaneously with the creation of the heaven, then the mountains and blessings were added in four days, adding to a total of six days. This explanation translates thumma as moreover instead of then. In other words, the period described in is not subsequent to the previous verses, but rather it occurs parallel to the creation of the earth in Critics argue that when it says God turned towards the heaven, this implies a sequential act.

But this is not entirely true, as God could have turned to the heaven at any point in the past, not necessarily after the creation of the heavens. If we were to take this proposed interpretation along with what the author had said previously regarding the four days of Q. Recall that the author claimed that Q.

He now argues that the two days that it took Allah to fashion the heavens are also part of the same days mentioned in Q. The four days of Q. Yet since two of these four days are suppose to have included the formation of the heavens this means that it took Allah a total of four days to create the heavens, the earth and its entire provisions!

To make it more simple, according to the author Allah created the earth and heavens in two days cf. Whatever the case, the very fact that the author has to come with so many explanations is actually an indirect admission and acknowledgement of all the difficulties posed by the Quran. Moreover, the two days of Q. The above reference presupposes the existence of the earth at the stage in which the heavens were still smoke which many feel refer to the gaseous stage of the universe before expanding to form space.

As far as Moiz Amjad is concerned we have already addressed his papers, as well as the responses of some others on these very issues 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. A similar explanation to the above is that the two days taken to create the heavens are not to be added to the previous days. This argument does not debate the meaning of thumma but instead argues that nowhere in the passage does God mention the creation of the heavens.

It only mentions the further development of the heavens. So this can either be taken to refer to the atmosphere or outerspace, as both are compatible with this description. In other words, the earth was created as described in , and the creation of the heaven is not mentioned at all in this passage.

The passage only mentions the further perfection and development of the heavens, indicating that they were created while the process described in was going on.

This explanation is also sufficient to explain the allegation. Here we quote Q. And We adorned the nearest lowest heaven with lamps stars to be an adornment as well as to guard from the devils by using them as missiles against the devils. In other words, there were no heavens in existence at this stage in the creation process, even though the earth had already been fashioned and set in place!

It is obvious that the author of the Quran erroneously believed that the earth was formed and completely filled while the heaven was still simply smoke! This is in clear contradiction with modern scientific views which teach that the heavens were developed before the earth, not later.

Before finishing with this allegation, there is still another issue to comment on. Some people have inquired about some ahadith about creation. One hadith is as follows:. Abu Haraira reported that Allah's Messenger may peace be upon him took hold of my hands and said: Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, created the clay on Saturday and He created the mountains on Sunday and He created the trees on Monday and He created the things entailing labour on Tuesday and created light on Wednesday and He caused the animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam peace be upon him after 'Asr on Friday;the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, i.

First of all, not all scholars are agreed about the authenticity of this hadith. Some regard it as authentic while others regard it as ma'lul defective. Ma'in, have criticised it. Al-Bukhari said, 'This saying is not that of the Prophet may Allah bless him and grant him peace , but one of Ka'b al-Ahbar'.

Allah states that He created the universe, the heavens and earth and all that is in, on and between them in six days, as He has stated in several Ayat in the Qur'an. On Friday, the entire creation was assembled and on that day, Adam was created. As for Saturday, no creation took place in it since it is the seventh day of of the week. Allah created the dust on Saturday, and He created the mountains on Sunday, and He created the trees on Monday, and He created the unpleasant things on Tuesday and He created the light on Wednesday and He spread the creatures through out it on Thursday and He created Adam after 'Asr on between 'Asr and the night.

Imam Ahmad is Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a Muslim scholar and hadith compiler who has a school of Islamic jurisprudence named after him.

Ibn Kathir was obviously referring to his collection of hadiths known as Musnad Ahmad , as even the translators themselves point out:. For example, the IA article provides the following quote from Imam Muslim himself:.

He belongs to the 2nd [tabaqah]. He lived during both Jahiliyyah and Islam. None of his reports are in al-Bu kh ari. And he places him in the second category of h adith narrators. And here is how they conclude their discussion on the Jewish transmitters of the hadith, particularly Ahbar and Wahb bin Munabbih:.

The above discussion is self-explanatory. The obvious conclusion is that each h adith is discussed on the basis of its strengths and weaknesses; whether in chain of narrators isnad or the text matn. Just because they had also transmitted isra'iliyyat traditions along with the Islamic ones does not make them 'untrustworthy' or 'fabricators' of h adith because they did not attribute these isra'iliyyat traditions to the Prophet P.

Muslim scholars have rejected the isra'iliyyat traditions on the basis that they do not satisfy the criteria of truthfulness according to the above set of rules.

Mu h ammad H usayn al- Dh ahabi says. As for his saying [i. We are not obliged to believe anything of it nor we are requested to trust it Here we actually find some of the strictest hadith scholars such as al-Albani accepting and approving this hadith as sound!

But for the sake of argument, let's agree with those scholars who say it is authentic. One may claim that this hadith seems to indicate that the perception that these days of creation refer to epochs or periods is incorrect.

In addition, it also seems to suggest that creation took place over seven days and not six. In response to these claims, we may mention the following points The second claim that these seven days contradict the Qur'anic six days is obviously wrong because one can clearly see that these days include the creation of much that is not mentioned in the Qur'an, including Adam, clay, animals, etc.

The Qur'an only specified the time for the creation of the heavens and the earth. Therefore, the question is, "How do these days relate to those of the Qur'an? Is there an overlap? These periods may be slightly smaller than those mentioned in the Qur'an.

The only creation that they have in common is that of the mountains, but as we know mountains have formed throughout earth's history and therefore it does not have to refer to the exact same creation period. First, a careful reading of the hadith actually shows that it took Allah more than seven days to create the cosmos.

Notice that the narration claims that Allah created the clay of the earth on Saturday which presupposes the prior existence of the earth in some form, perhaps as gaseous matter.

After all you cannot have the clay of the earth without first having an earth from which to fashion clay! You have none beside Him as Lord, nor do you have an intercessor.

Would you not take heed? The foregoing makes it rather apparent that the Quran does teach that Allah created the entire cosmos and everything within it in six days, which expressly contradicts the narration of Sahih Muslim that it took more than seven days for him to do so. Interestingly, this hadith is not that inaccurate. Many scientists have made comparisons of earth's history by likening it to a single year. Interestingly, the hadith mentioned compares creation to a week, and specifically points out Adam's creation at the end of the last day in the final moments of the day.

In the muslims tradition, sunset is often regarded as the end of the day, and therefore 'Asr is just before the end of the day. One may ask about the other creation mentioned in the hadith. Nur light here obviously does not refer to the actual creation of light, but perhaps the development of the atmosphere allowing light to reach the planet.

In fact, it is safe to say that the Islamic traditions are virtually unanimous that the sun, moon and stars were all created after the earth. Note for instance the following narrations which are taken from the English translation of the monumental work of the renowned Sunni Muslim historian and commentator Al-Tabari, titled The History of Al-Tabari.

All bold and capital emphasis ours:. We have stated before that time is but hours of night and day and that the hours are but traversal by the sun and the moon of the degrees of the sphere.

He said: God created the earth on Sunday and Monday. He created the mountains and the uses they possess on Tuesday. On Wednesday , He created trees, water, cities and the cultivated barren land.

These are four days. He continued citing the Qur'an : "Say: Do you really not believe in the One Who created the earth in two days, and set up others like Him? That is the Lord of the worlds. He made it firmly anchored mountains above it and blessed it and decreed that it contain the amount of food it provides, all in four days, equally for those asking"- for those who ask.

In the first of these three hours He created the terms of human life , who would live and who would die. In the second, He cast harm upon everything that is useful for mankind. And in the third, He created Adam and had him dwell in Paradise. He commanded Iblis to prostrate himself before Adam, and He drove Adam out of Paradise at the end of the hour. When the Jews asked: What then, Muhammad? He said: "Then He sat straight upon the Throne. Whereupon the Prophet got very angry, and it was revealed: "We have created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days, and fatigue did not touch Us.

Thus be patient with what you say. The Messenger of God replied: On it, God created the earth and spread it out.