Quran 41:9-12 says that the Earth was created before the stars. These are the verses:
41:9: Ask ˹them, O Prophet˺, “How can you disbelieve in the One Who created the earth in two Days? ...
41:10: He placed on the earth firm mountains, standing high, showered His blessings upon it, and ordained ˹all˺ its means of sustenance—totaling four Days exactly—for all who ask.
41:11: THEN (Arabic ثم) He turned towards the heaven when it was ˹still like˺ smoke, saying to it and to the earth, ‘Submit, willingly or unwillingly.’ They both responded, ‘We submit willingly.’
41:12: Then (Arabic ف) He formed the heaven into seven heavens in two Days, assigning to each its mandate. And We adorned (only) the lowest (1st) heaven (i.e. the heaven of our Earth) with ˹stars like˺ lamps ˹for beauty˺ and for protection.”
This demonstrates that:
- The formation of 7 heavens and keeping the stars only under the 1st heaven refers to an "Intelligent Design". While the Big Bang was an "EXPLOSION", which can never create such an intelligent design, as the Quran describes.
- The Quranic Heavens (which Islamists claim to refer to the universe) are different from STARS, and they are two separate entities.
- The stars neither originated from the heavens nor from the earth, but they were separately created later and put under the first heaven.
- Thus, the Quran describes that stars were formed separately and later than the Earth, which is scientifically wrong as the earth already existed at the time of creation of heavens. The Earth is only 4.85 billion years old, while stars existed billions of years before the Earth, and they were also adorning (i.e. burning like lamps) the skies before the Earth.
Islamic Apologist: ثم does not necessarily mean 'THEN', but it can also mean 'moreover'
Islamic apologists present the following excuse:
The particle “ثم" does not exclusively refer to time or chronology, rather it can be a word used to link ideas together without chronology, as also seen in verse 6:154 and verse 39:6.
Our Response:
We understand “ثم” does not always mean “then”. It depends on context. But it is clear in the context of these verses 41:9-12 that it does. Usually in the Arabic language, ثم means “then”. It can also mean “moreover” or “additionally” but that is the exception not the rule. These verses are explicitly talking about the order of creation, why should we assume that “ثم” here means the exception, when its usual meaning makes perfect sense in the context? Moreover, it is not the only letter used. The coordinating Conjunction “ف” is also used in the next verse and it also denotes order.
Objection 1: Why was Allah UNABLE to use the conjuction "و" for clarity?
As the Quran here uses Arabic conjunctions that denote order. Such as “ثم” in 41:11 and “ف” in 41:12 which both mean “then”. Even though, the author could have only used ones that do not denote order. Such as “و” which means “and”. So it will go something like: God created the Earth and the heavens and the stars. Without denoting order. If this was the case, then your response will be accurate. But it is not. Here is more about Arabic conjunctions if you want to read:
https://arabikey.com/conjunctions-in-arabic/
The Quran claims that:
- Its verses are "easy to understand" (Quran 54:17)
- Its verses are "clear", "manifest" and "guidance" (Quran 27:1-2)
- It was revealed in the Arabic language so that they could understand it (Quran 12:2)
- It is a Book whose verses are perfectly explained—a Quran in Arabic for people who know (Quran 41:3)
There is no valid reason to reinterpret these verses in a way that stretches the meaning or contradicts the language, just to arrive at a desired conclusion. The intention of the Quran's author seems clear: the sequence of events is meant to be understood as described.
Objection 2: Other Verses also claim that the Earth was created first before he turned to the heavens
Look at this verse.
Quran 2:29:
He is the One Who created everything in the earth for you. Then (ثُمَّ) He turned towards the heaven, forming it into seven heavens.
The same arabic word ثُمَّ (ṯumma, meaning "then") is used in this verse as in 41:11. This word is traditionally used to describe sequential acts.
Even Islamic sources back this up, since according to Muhammad in Sahih Muslim, light was created after the Earth:
“Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger 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 (النُّورَ) on Wednesday and He caused animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam after ‘Asr on Friday; the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, i.e. Between afternoon and night.”
If light (النُّورَ, an-nur) was only created on Wednesday, that means that the stars and the sun could not have been created before then. But since the hadith describes the Earth to already have been created by Wednesday, that means that Muhammad is saying that stars and the sun were created after the Earth. However, the science is very clear that stars and the sun had already been burning and emitting light like lamps, and adorning the sky billions of years before the creation of the earth.
And it's not only Sahih Muslim hadith that says this, According to the esteemed Muslim historian al-Tabari, Muhammad said that the heavens were created after the Earth:
"Now then, this being so, there is (also) a sound tradition from the Messenger of God told us by Hannad b. al-Sari, who also said that he read all of the hadith (to Abu Bakr) – Abu Bakr b. ‘Ayyash – Abu Sa’d al-Baqqal- ‘Ikrimah – IBN ABBAS: The Jews came to the Prophet and asked him about the creation of the heavens and the earth. 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. On Thursday, He created heaven. On Friday, He created the stars, the sun, the moon, and the angels, until three hours remained. 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."
Reference: The History of al-Tabari: General Introduction and from the Creation to the Flood, translated by Franz Rosenthal, State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany NY 1989, Volume 1, pp. 188
So here is Muhammad (narrated by his cousin, ibn Abbas) describing how Allah created the Earth first and then on Friday he created the stars with only 3 hours left. Al-Tabari records another similar hadith:
"According to al-Muthanna- al-Hajjaj- Hammad- ‘Ata’ b. al-Sa’ib- ‘Ikrimah: The Jews asked the Prophet: What about Sunday? The Messenger of God replied: On it, God created the earth and spread it out. They asked about Monday, and he replied: On it, He created Adam. They asked about Tuesday, and he replied: On it, He created the mountains, water, and so on. They asked about Wednesday, and he replied: Food. They asked about Thursday, and he replied: He created the heavens. They asked about Friday, and he replied: God created night and day. Then, when they asked about Saturday and mentioned God’s rest(ing on it), he exclaimed: God be praised! God then revealed: ‘We have created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days, and fatigue did not touch Us."[Reference: ibid, p. 190]
This hadith is even clearer about the sun not existing before the Earth.
Hassan Radwan