Six-Day Creation from the Viewpoints of the Qur’ān and Science

علوم قرآن و حدیث

Article 6, Volume 44, Issue 2 - Serial Number 89, February 2013   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/naqhs.v44i2.14550

Author

Rūḥullāh Najafī^*

Abstract

The verses of the Qur’ān apparently talk about the six-day creation of the heavens and the earth but the new science views the process of the formation of heavenly bodies and the earth in a longer time span and does not approve the formation of the universe in a period of a few days. Thus, many of the contemporary Qur’ān researchers have withdrawn from the formalistic and generally accepted (mashhūr) perception of early exegetes – believing in the creation of the heavens
and the earth in a period of six conventional days – and esoterically interpreted the expression sittata ayām (six days) as six eras and stages. In the meantime, it is also to be noted that in scientific circles the explanation of natural phenomena cannot be referred to as a supernatural frame of reference and the interference of an unseen superior force cannot be anticipated and counted on; whereas, the Qur’ān’s expression is based on the unconditional presence and interference of a superior unseen and supreme force. Therefore, since the religious viewpoint is not restricted to the closed presuppositions of science, it would not be necessarily restricted and obligated to the outcomes of the scientific calculations, either; and can maintain that the extrasensory forces have involved in this respect. Nevertheless, in the present age, the experiential science is respectful and creditable enough as not to ignore its outcomes and data with such an analysis. Actually, such a viewpoint would confirm the notion of contradistinction of the Qur’ān and science. Consequently, if a single argument is supposed to be chosen, the esoteric interpretation (ta’wīl) of sittata ayyām as six periods and eras seems to be the only determined and preferable argument.

Keywords

six-day creation; the appearance of the heavens and the earth; the unmistakability of the Qur’ān; scientific interpretation; the relation of the Qur’ān and science; the relation of religion and science