Answering Questions Through The Holy Qur'an: Was the earth created before stars?

Was the earth created before stars?

2:28 How can you disbelieve in Allah? While you were dead, then He gave you life; then He will cause you to die, then He will give you life, then to Him you will be returned. 2:29 He is the One Who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then (thumma) He turned (is’tawa) to the heaven, and fashioned them (fasawwahunna) seven heavens. And He is Knowing of all things.

(This Verse does not say that the earth was created before stars, but it mentions the creation of that which is on earth, then mentions the heaven, which already existed, and this heaven which already existed, was “fashioned” in seven heavens (after creating that which is on earth). In other words, after creating that which is on the earth (not planet earth itself), “He turned to the heaven”, so the heaven already existed, in order to turn to it, then seven heavens were fashioned / perfected. Notice that the Verse does not even say the word “created” in regard to heaven, but says “turned to” and “fashioned”. It could also be interpreted that even the seven heavens had been previously created (Not just “the heaven”), because it says “fashioned them”, and “them / hunna” is feminine plural in Arabic, so it refers to the heavens which are also feminine, as if they had been made before, not in the moment in which they were fashioned (perfected), then the mention of “heaven” in singular would be a generic word, which (always) contains/contained seven heavens, just like the mention of “The Garden (Paradise)” in the Qur’an, which contains “gardens”. If this interpretation is correct, then the seven heavens, which already existed, were perfected / fashioned. Nevertheless, at least, “heaven” (in singular) already existed, so the Verse does not say that the heaven was created after earth)(The root of both words “is’tawa” (turned) and “sawwa” (fashioned) have the same root: “Siin-Waw-Ya”, and it means “sawwa - to level, complete, arrange, make uniform, even, congruous, consistent in parts, fashion in a suitable manner, make adapted to the exigencies or requirements, perfect a thing, put a thing into a right or good state; istawa – to establish, become firm or firmly settled, turn to a thing, to direct one’s attention to a thing, mount; sawiyyun – even, right; sawwa – to proportion, fashion, perfect, level, equal, fill the space, etc.”)(Allah knows best)

41:9 Say, "Do you indeed disbelieve in the One Who created the earth in two periods and you set up rivals with Him? That is the Lord of the worlds." 41:10 And (wa) He placed therein firmly-set mountains above it, and He blessed therein, and (wa) determined (waqaddara) therein its sustenance in four equal periods, for those who ask. 41:11 Then (thumma) He directed (is’tawa) towards the heaven while it was smoke, and He said to it and to the earth, "Come both of you willingly or unwillingly." They both said, "We come willingly." 41:12 Then He completed them as seven heavens in two periods and He revealed in each heaven its affair. And (wa) We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and to guard. That is the Decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knower.

(Verse 41:12 does not say that the earth was created before stars, but the Verse uses the word “and” (wa) which is non-chronological in Arabic, so the heaven already existed, and was fashioned / completed as seven heavens after space (heaven) and matter (earth) were created (41:11-12). “Earth” in Verse 41:11 does not refer to planet earth, but, according to the context, earth refers to matter, by which stars, planets and galaxies formed, on the other hand, the heaven is “space”. This is also supported by Verse 21:30 which speaks about the big bang, and uses the words “heavens” and “earth”. Verse 21:30 says, “the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, then We parted them”. The big bang is how the universe expanded from a single point. All the matter, energy, and light; were all compacted into a dense point. The universe then expanded)(The sentence “and We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps” (41:12) is not chronological, so the nearest heaven was adorned with lamps but it does not say if it was before or after the creation of planet earth. On the other hand, “nearest heaven” could indicate that it was adorned in the same heaven where planet earth was later created, because after the creation of earth, that heaven became the “nearest” heaven from an earthly point of view. It cannot become the nearest heaven to earth until planet earth was created. So, the Verse doesn’t imply that planet earth existed before the stars, and it doesn’t imply that there are no stars in other heavens either)(Verse 41:9 and 41:10 tell about the creation of the earth and about mountains, but then the last sentence of Verse 41:10 says “and (wa) determined therein its sustenance in four equal periods”; but the sentence uses “and (wa)”, which is not chronological in regard to the previous sentence/s. After that, Verse 41:11 uses the word “then (thumma)” which is chronological, so after the sustenance was determined then “He directed towards the heaven while it was smoke”. Notice that “determined” does not mean “created”, so it can be determined at that moment, but the earth could have been created later, because a decreed matter has also a decreed time)(The root of “qaddara” (determined) is “Qaf-Dal-Ra”, and it means “to measure / decree / determine, to be able, a measure, a term / decree, destiny, etc.”)(In regard to “nearest heaven” (41:12), all the stars we see belong to the Milky Way galaxy. If we consider the combined light of many billions of stars, then we can see stars from other galaxies too, but still the nearest heaven is adorned with lamps. So one interpretation is that the Milky Way galaxy could be the nearest heaven. Another interpretation is that the nearest heaven is not only the Milky Way galaxy but it is also other stars and galaxies that have been detected in the sky. If so, the multiple heavens (universes) would lie outside and beyond these galaxies)(Allah knows best)

79:27 Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He constructed it. 79:28 He raised its ceiling and proportioned it. 79:29 And He darkened its night and brought out its brightness. 79:30 And after that He spread the earth.

(He spread the earth after He brought out brightness, not “before”. And this time the Verse uses a sequential / chronological word “after” (ba’da))(Allah knows best)

9:36 Indeed, the number of months with Allah is twelve months in the ordinance of Allah (from the) Day He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four are sacred. That is the upright religion, so do not wrong yourselves therein. And fight the polytheists all together, as they fight you all together. And know that Allah is with the righteous.

(An interpretation of Verse 9:36 is that once the heavens and the earth were created (i.e. once there is planet earth, sun, moon, etc.), then the number of months is twelve months)(Another interpretation is that heavens and earth refer to space and matter respectively, and it refers to the Day in which the number of months were decreed, and that’s the Day in which heavens and matter were created. Other Verses mention “heavens and the earth” in the context of space and matter (21:30, 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, 25:59). In other words, the number of months might have been decreed before the creation of planet earth)(Allah knows best)

7:54 Indeed, your Lord is Allah, the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six epochs, then He established on the Throne. He covers the night with the day seeking it rapidly; and the sun, and the moon and the stars are subjected by His command. Unquestionably, for Him is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.

(In regard to the age/creation of Earth, and the age of the universe in general (which includes stars): God’s Throne is interpreted to be creation because it can be borne, and Angels are around it (39:75, 40:7, 69:17). The Throne is mentioned in Verse 7:54, together with the creation of Earth in six days. If the Throne were to be set as the frame of reference, the Throne is wider than the Earth (2:255 “His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth” (earth refers to matter because the heavens contain matter). So time should pass much slower than on Earth (the theory of general relativity says that time passes slower near an object more massive than Earth): Scientists say that our solar system is 4.57 billion years old. Earth started accreting (41:11) concurrently with the sun and our neighboring planets 4.57 bln years ago. However the universe is 13.7 bln years old. This places the age of Earth at approximately one third the age of the universe (4.57 bln/13.7 bln = 1/3). According to the Qur’an, the earth was created in two days / epochs (out of 6)(verse 41:9), while the Heavens, Earth and everything in between was created in 6 days / epochs (Verse 50:38)(2/6 = 1/3). So, the ratio in the Qur’an is the same as the ratio said by scientists. So, the age of the universe is presented as a ratio in the Qur’an: 1/3)(Allah knows best)